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Post by pbbrown0 on Jan 17, 2017 12:13:06 GMT -6
OUT OF THE STUMP Post # 8
A man named Doug Brennan was the first to speak up. “I don't make a lot of money, but Liz and I both work hard to make sure we can take care of our family. We have a garden to help out with our food costs because sometimes things get tight and it helps out along the way as well as helping to provide a little safety net for us. In normal times, if we saw a neighbor in trouble we might try to help out if we thought we could spare some and still manage. However, let's suppose I lost my job, and I didn't see another one coming right away. I would have to think real hard before I gave away food my own family was likely to need soon. Right now, with what has happened and the uncertainty about what is ahead, it looks to me like none of us have jobs, and no one knows when any of us will. In spite of all that Michael here says he is willing to help a few of us, actually quite a few of us, with what he has because of his own hard work. From what I can tell he hasn't been hording, and he is not even waiting for an opportunity to turn a profit on what he produced himself. Michael is already doing exactly what you are suggesting, Jacob, by inviting us to his home. He's even told us that what he has is not really enough to make it until he can grow more for himself or anyone else, but he is volunteering to take that risk anyway. I think we ought to be very grateful for his generosity, but deciding who to help and who not to help is not ours to decide.”
Pete spoke up next. “Jacob, I really don't know you well, yet, but I am guessing you are a good and decent person. You want to help others if you can. Because you are a good person, and you are still fairly young, it may be hard for you to understand that too many people are not like you. Unfortunately our society has developed to the point where most people are considered decent if they simply refrain from taking what is not theirs. Most people if they were truly faced with their own starvation, or even worse their own children starving,” Pete subtly glanced at Jacobs three children, “they would change their decent stance and be willing to steal or even kill for food. Jacob, I would be willing to bet that you would feel some anguish over a decision like that, because you are a good man, not just a decent man. That is what Michael has been trying to explain to us. He has thought this through, and he has worked hard to do what he could about the situation before it developed. Pretending you can save the whole world, when you know you cannot do that is just delusional thinking. If it troubles you that there are more people who need the same kind of help that you are being offered, then step into the harness so you can help Michael grow more food for more people next year. There will be plenty of people needing help a year from now, because this problem is not going away quickly. I run a store, and I understand the complexity and importance of the supply chain. Right now the supply chain is not just missing a few links. Right now the supply chain has already been sent back to the smelter.”
Everyone finally agreed they were needing to adapt their thinking to a seriously changed reality. They also agreed they were very fortunate than Michael had foreseen this and was offering to provide help to their families. Josh and Lucy Smith, like Doug and Liz Brennan had some vegetables from their garden that had been put up, and those too would added to the group's supplies. The group quickly made plans for which vehicles to take as far as Rose's house. They would all need to quickly load the food and most essential supplies and leave separately for the Van Hoosen house before morning to avoid drawing attention to their efforts. Pete and his son Jeff were going to use a hand pump and tubing from their store to transfer some more fuel from any vehicles being left behind to those vehicles they were taking. Pete offered to get all the snow shoes he had in stock at the hardware store and at home. Each vehicle would load up with supplies first from their homes and then from the tavern before leaving. They would use Rose's place as their staging area for the trek to The Haven. Some of the supplies would need to be stored at her house or in her barn until they could all be hauled up to The Haven by hand. Everyone was warned to not enter the Van Hoosen house when they arrived and to stay behind the buildings, out of site from the nearby road.
Michael cautioned everyone again that this was going to be hard in the beginning. Food would be a big issue as they went through the winter, since no crops could be harvested until early summer. They would need to be thinking about possible food sources, but stealing from others would not be tolerated in this group. In order to reduce the visibility of the group leaving town the first family would stop at the back of the tavern at three o'clock to quickly load and then head toward the Van Hoosen house. By six o'clock the last vehicle would be on the road and the supplies which they were taking would be completely emptied from The Tavern.
Jeff had been helping his Dad pack and load their supplies through the night. Pete wanted to take so many things from his store, but knew their space and time were limited. Later they would need to come back and salvage more tools and equipment. The first priority was to get their food and clothing to a secure place, along with a few guns he used for hunting. Those might prove helpful even though hunting season was officially over until next fall. He certainly did not want to risk them being stolen before he came back for more supplies. It was less than an hour before they were scheduled to head for the tavern, when Jeff remembered his axe in the wood shed.
Doug had his family about ready to head to The Tavern. They were first on the schedule. Liz had been so efficient in packing their clothes and personal things. He was also proud of her because of how much they had in home canned foods from their garden last summer. That would help everyone at the shelter along with his own family. They both knew they would not be coming back here for a while, and Liz was quickly making hard choices about what to leave behind. The incidents in town already, especially what happened to Jake and Mara, had really frightened Liz and they had frightened Doug for his family's safety. He had been running their SUV to warm up the heater as they were loading. They climbed in and started to pull away, when Doug remembered their garden. The garden tools would be very important in the spring. He pulled over to the garden tool shed and asked his daughter, Jenny, to jump out and help him grab their tools.
It was dark inside the shed but Doug did not want to turn on any lights. He was trying to begin thinking in terms of stealth as a necessary form of security. He handed a bundle of tools to Jenny and was about to pick up more when he heard a sound outside the shed. He whispered “wait here” to his daughter and stepped over to the door that was slightly ajar. What he saw in the dim moonlight made his blood turn to ice.
Through the opening of the shed door he saw that Liz was now outside the SUV. Next to her was a man holding a finger to his mouth indicating that Liz should stay quiet, while he was waving her away from the vehicle with the rifle in his other hand. Doug charged at the man shouting to draw the gunman's attention away from his wife, when everything went black. What Doug had failed to see was the gunman's partner standing just behind the shed door waiting for Doug to come out. When Doug shouted and charged, the second man also charged. Not wanting to wake the town up with a gunshot in the middle of the night, he swung the butt of his rifle hitting Doug in the back of his head.
Jenny dropped her tools and ran to the door to see what her Dad was shouting about. She got to the door just in time to see her Dad clubbed in the back of his head and crumple to the ground. Rather than being paralyzed with fear, she, like her Dad, was enraged at someone threatening her family. She reached down to the tools she had dropped and grabbed a handle, not even knowing what tool she had she stepped through the door hefting the tool above her head and brought the end of the shovel smashing down on the head of her father's attacker. Only after he fell, half sprawling over her father did she realize there was a second man who was swinging his gun barrel around toward her.
Reflexively she tried, as well as she could from that position, to swing the shovel up at him as well. It was a pretty weak blow from that angle, but it was just enough to deflect the tip of his rifle as the shot went off with a deafening roar. By this time her mother had jumped on the gunman's back and had her arm around his throat. He reached out and snatched the shovel from Jenny's hands throwing her off balance onto the ground. With the shovel in one hand and the rifle in the other hand he spun around and slammed Liz's back against the side of the shed. He threw his weight against her as she clung to his back slamming her against the wall again and then a third time. On the third time her head flew back and hit the wooden planks on the wall of the shed, causing her to release her grip on his neck. Next he turned and raised the shovel ready to smash down on Jenny's head like she had done to his brother. Jenny was trying to raise up off the ground when she saw this angry man towering over her with a shovel raised high in the air. She raised her arms to try and fend off the blow she knew was coming, when her attacker let out a furious scream.
Jeff was coming out of the wood shed when he heard a shout over in the Brennan's back yard. He could barely see enough in the dim moonlight to tell there were two men with rifles near the Brennan's SUV. It looked like someone was laying on the ground between them. When he saw Jenny run out of the tool shed swinging a shovel at one of the men. He took off at running. Before he had taken three steps he heard a gunshot. He was barely comprehending what he saw going on in the dark as he was focused on turning up the speed. Now he could see a man raising a shovel high over Jenny. Jeff was at a full run when he raised the axe he had been retrieving and brought it down with all his wood splitting skill into the man's shoulder socket. The man howled in pain dropping the shovel, and as he turned toward his attacker, he was met with another rail splitting blow of Jeff's axe in the middle of his chest.
Jeff knelt down and pulled the fallen shovel away to see if Jenny was alright just as Liz stumbled over to her as well. Jenny started crying while hugging both her mom and Jeff, but managed to tell them, “I'm okay. I'm okay. Is Daddy okay? Check on Daddy? Is he okay?” Liz was trying to drag the first attacker off of Doug who was now starting to moan. Just then Pete came running up. He had heard the gun go off while packing things in his truck, and finally spotted several people on the ground where the fracas had taken place. Pete grabbed the two rifles off the ground and tossed them aside. Jeff noticed his dad tucking a pistol into the back of his belt under his jacket as he knelt down next to Mr. Brennan. Pete had Doug lay still for a minute until he could find out just what had happened to him. When Pete had checked Doug's pupils with a small flashlight he had pulled from his pocket and made sure he had no broken bones, he carefully helped him roll over and sit up. Liz helped to hold her husband in a sitting position, and told Jenny her daddy was going to be okay while Pete checked Doug's head wound.
Jeff was feeling quite ill after looking over at the man he had stopped from attacking Jenny, but Jenny was still crying and clinging to Jeff almost desperately. Jeff fought down the roiling in his stomach and put an arm around her to try and reassure her. “My dad has had EMT training, Jenny. He'll make sure your dad is okay.” Meanwhile Pete checked on the man Jenny had clocked with the shovel. He was still unconscious but breathing, and Pete began untying the man's boot laces.
“What are you doing, Dad?” Jeff was still supporting Jenny, but keeping alert eye on everything around them.
“I am going to use his shoe laces to tie him up. If he wakes up, we don't want him causing any more trouble...for anyone.” Pete got both laces out and proceeded to remove his boots, socks, and gloves. He then tied the man's ankles securely to his wrists. Pete got Jeff and Liz to help him rearrange the second row seat of the SUV, so they could let Doug sit there propped up and Liz could sit beside him. He told Jeff to get Jenny into the front seat of the vehicle and to get himself in the driver's seat while he got the tools from the shed. Pete grabbed Jeff's axe and quickly cleaned it with a rag from the shed then put it with the gardening tools in the back of the Brennan's SUV.
“Liz, you need to let Jeff drive you to the Van Hoosen place. Doug is not in any shape to drive, and I think you should sit where you can keep an eye on him and keep his head stable after that nasty blow. Jeff doesn't have a license yet, but he knows how to drive and is only waiting for his birthday so he is old enough to take his driver's license test. There is no need for you to rush getting there, so Jeff can take it nice and slow. Make it a smooth ride for Mr. Brennan. Jenny, your dad is going to be okay, but he needs to take it easy for a while. You were very brave tonight. Jeff will stay with you and get you there safely, and his mom and I will be following you there very soon. Liz, with as much as you have packed there is not much room for more from the tavern, so you should just go on without stopping there. Jeff, be careful. You did really well by the Brennan's tonight, son. I trust you will continue that. Stay alert, and be smart. I will explain to the others, and we will be along not far behind you.”
After they drove away, Pete searched the two men. They each had hunting knives, and a pouch of shells for their hunting rifles. He looked around and did not see any sign of a vehicle they came in, so he took their guns, ammo, and knives back to his house and added them to his supplies. Then he went inside to wake Beth up, so he could explain why they needed to go on to The Tavern early.
When Pete and Beth got to the Tavern they were met by Liam and Michael who were both showing signs of concern. Once the missing family was explained, Michael suggested they accelerate their time table to get everyone out of the village as soon as possible. Pete and Liam agreed, so Liam left to alert the other two families while Pete and Beth finished loading their pickup. Michael went to wake up Colleen and Rose and to get some coffee brewing.
Pete and Beth had finished loading their truck just as the coffee was finishing, so they took just a minute to have a cup before leaving. Michael took that opportunity to talk to Pete about Doug's condition. “Pete, we have a pretty good trek through the snow to get to my place once we leave the Van Hoosen house and I am especially concerned about Doug being able to make that.”
“That may be a problem, Michael. Even if he only has a slight concussion, that kind of exertion would risk aggravating the injury.”
“That is what I was thinking, Pete. We will have to work out a way to handle that. Meanwhile, do what you can for him and remember to keep the vehicles out of sight behind either the house or the building behind the house once you get to the Van Hoosen property.”
Pete and Beth Gates left with their load, and about thirty minutes later the Du Bois and Smith families arrived at The Tavern. Everyone got right to work and finished loading all four vehicles then took a five minute break to finish off the coffee. Some one suggested that everyone should simply leave and spread out a bit once they got on the road. Michael was uneasy about that plan. “What if there were other other predators snooping around and watching like the two that attacked the Brennan family? It would raise too much curiosity if anyone saw four more loaded vehicles leaving town before five in the morning.”
Liam had an idea. “We have four vehicles. One can leave town heading south. Five minutes later one can head north. Five minutes after that another can head south. Five minutes later the fourth can head north. That puts ten minutes between the two heading north. At the same time, ten minutes after leaving to the south the second vehicle turns around and heads north. Again there is a ten minute gap. Ten minutes after leaving, the last vehicle headed south turns back north. As far as an observer in the town is concerned two vehicles went south, and two went north at four different times. If they were watching, they would see that two cars happened to be driving through town from the south at different times. That gets us all on the road in only fifteen minutes, but still scattered out and more random as far as any observers in town might see. The extra driving will use a little more gasoline, but it buys us some level of obscurity”
On the drive toward the mountains Beth was asking Pete for more details about what had really happened. “Beth I wasn't there until it was already over, Doug was barely conscious, Liz was too shaken to be explaining clearly, and I thought it was best to not press Jeff just yet for the details. From what I could piece together, two guys with guns were watching the Brennan family load up. When those guys with the guns clubbed her dad Jenny tried to fight back with a shovel from the shed. Jeff heard the commotion and ran over to help. Before he got there one of the attackers had already fired a shot and fortunately missed. Jeff got there just in time and killed the gunman before he could seriously harm anyone else. I sent the Brennan family on ahead to the Van Hoosen place with Jeff driving because Doug may well have a concussion, and Liz had her head slammed against the wall of the shed, too.” “Oh my gosh! That is horrible. Jeff is just a boy. How could he...?” Beth was in shock. She still saw Jeff, regardless of his age or circumstances, as her little boy. “You had him drive them up there alone? He's not old enough to to even get his license, yet. Pete, what is happening? Three weeks ago we were having a peaceful and happy Thanksgiving dinner, just the two of us with our son, in our own home, in a safe, quiet little village. Now look at all that has happened. The whole world seems to have turned dangerous overnight. This is not the kind of world I wanted our son to grow up in. How is he going to make it in a world that is falling apart and this dangerous, Pete?” Beth was overwhelmed with too many sudden changes into the world she once knew.
“Beth, darling, our boy had to do some awfully big growing up in the blink of an eye tonight. I would never wish that on anyone, but he faced the hard new realities of this world head on. That family needed help in the worst way, he was there for them without their even asking. He got through it and they did too, largely due to Jeff stepping up and being there for them. I can't predict how any of us are going to make it with all the changes that are happening. I am guessing, though, that our son has got a better chance than most.”
Michael and Rose were pulling up the drive at Rose's house well before the sun was up. They were the last to arrive, and Michael was relieved that no vehicles were visible from the road or even the front drive except the truck of the two thugs laying inside the house. The snow on the drive was packed down along with a path around behind the house, but there were no obvious indications that the tracks had been made by multiple vehicles. It looked like someone living here had a regular route for driving from the main road down the drive and around to the back. He followed that path on around and stopped behind the line of vehicles. Liam came out of the garage and waved to Michael and Rose to come on in.
Pete had found the wood pile and started a small fire on the concrete floor of the garage soon after arriving. The garage was quite large being a combination garage and small barn. Doug had been able to walk to the garage, but Beth and Pete had stayed at his side to support him. He was obviously suffering from a headache, and even that small exertion was making it worse. They had gotten some sleeping bags out to keep him comfortable until the fire could warm things up. As each vehicle arrived they all gathered in the garage until everyone was there.
Once everyone was inside, they had some planning to do. There were perishable foods they had brought from the Tavern. Liam had managed to vent some cold air from outside into his walk in cooler to keep things refrigerated even with the power being out. Those food supplies needed to be removed from the vehicles to keep them from warming up too much from having been inside the heated vehicles. There were also canned foods that needed to be moved to keep them from freezing in the glass jars. They were going to need a way to transport Doug up the mountain through the snow. The risk of aggravating a concussion was too great for him to attempt the the uphill trek to the Haven on his own power, but staying here for a couple of days was not a good option. Pete had brought a couple of children's snow sleds from the store thinking the younger children would be really struggling to hike through the snow to the Haven, but those would not be adequate for transporting Doug. They also needed to prioritize what of all the supplies packed in the vehicles needed to be carried up the mountain first, and what should wait for later trips. Michael suggested the rest of the group discuss that last item while he and Jeff started working on a way to transport Doug.
Michael found an axe in the barn and Jeff followed him outside. Jeff had them detour to get his own axe from the Brennan's SUV. Michael went to the wood pile and explained that he wanted to make a litter for Doug that they could drag rather than carry, but he wanted wide ski like plates for the trailing end rather than the ends of the poles that would plow deep into the snow. “Jeff, since you brought your own axe, I am guessing you keep it sharp. This one I found in the barn hasn't been sharpened for a while, so I need you to do some of the more careful cutting.” He showed Jeff how to first split a wide block of wood from a short log at the wood pile to make a thick plank, then to carefully cut an incline on the bottom of the plank at one end to help it glide up over the snow. Michael, in the meantime was going to cut some poles from nearby trees which they could lash together for the litter. Jeff was making quick work on the planks so Michael had to stop before he finished the litter frame. He showed Jeff how to cut grooves across the bottom of the planks that faded toward the back end and notches on the sides at those grooves for cords to grip so the lashings would not create drag on the skids. Soon Michael had a fan shaped litter lashed together and left Jeff to finish lashing the skids in place.
By this time the vehicles had been moved closer to the garage for unloading. The contents had been grouped and organized inside the garage. They moved the perishable foods needing refrigeration to the smokehouse where they would stay cold without a fire going, and the smoke smell would mask any scent that might otherwise draw animals. They were particularly concerned about the canned foods because of the weight, and the difficulty of carrying boxes of jars up the mountain. Michael told them about the litter on skids that Jeff was finishing for Doug. It could be used for transporting jars on subsequent trips. Until then they needed to gather some stones around the fire to absorb heat. Then they could collect the stones and jars under several layers of tarpaulins to hold in the heat and shield them from the cold air. They would still have to return soon before the stash cooled down too much, but this would buy them a little time until they could make a return trip. An hour later everyone was ready. Three of the vehicles were crowded into the garage. The others were covered with tarpaulins close up beside the garage on the side where the wind normally created the snow drifts. Doug was well bundled and tied to the litter. Everyone else was bundled for the cold, but they would be generating more of their own body heat from trekking up the mountain with their loads. Pete and Liam had made a rope harness for pulling the litter so that either one or two people at a time could tow it. Michael had the litter follow at the back of the group so those taking a turn at pulling it would already have a path packed down for them by the group tramping ahead. He also tied trailing branches on the litter, so the path they left would be very unclear as to how many were in the group and also mask what exactly had made the path. He cautioned everyone to keep on a narrow path and fairly close together so the path would be easier for everyone.
Michael led the way into the woods following the previous path he and Rose had taken. He was very concerned for the risk they were taking by making such a distinct path through the snow. Even if a new snowfall came in a few days it would still be obvious this is a significant path to something. He hoped if anyone tried to follow it they would give on the uphill path before they could tell where the path was really headed, especially since it would be very difficult to know who or what they were tracking and where the path might lead.
The journey through the woods was taxing on the group in spite of Michael and Rose having blazed the trail before. Michael knew they all wanted to rest, but he also knew they would chill down quickly if they stopped. Then it would be much harder for them to start up again, especially since most of them had missed a night's sleep. When the incline was steeper He would switch around and take his turn on pulling the litter along with one of the other men. They were remembering not to spread out, so the group was staying in a fairly tight space. Being close together like that, Michael was able to talk to them and encourage them along.
Michael noticed that Rose was often shifting her position within the group. She was, talking to them to distract them from the monotony of the trek, and monitoring the children especially to see how they were handling the effort and the cold. She was even dropping back regularly to check on Liz and Doug. Once when Michael dropped back to take an extra turn on the litter Rose grabbed his arm. “Dear, it needs to be someone else taking a turn this time. How are you going to take care of everything for all of us if we end up having to carry you on that litter too?” There it was again. Apparently Michael and Rose were not going to be troubled with any arguments between the two of them. Michael, was a quick learner and knew how to distinguish between the improbable and the impossible. He also knew it was a fool's errand to attempt the impossible.
Occasionally the group would pause for just a minute while the two babies were shifted to another parent. Michael was amazed how efficiently the transfers were made, with the help of the other adults in the group so the babies did not get cold while shifting them. They were transferred in their snuggled harnesses off the shoulders and out from under the coat of one parent, then in a matter of seconds the harness was placed over another parent's shoulders and the baby was bundled under the other parent's coat. There were not enough sleds from Pete's store for all of the younger children, so the child which did not have a sled would walk along holding at least one adult's hand and sometimes they would be carried for a spell to give them a break from trudging through the snow. It was not only their own parents helping them along or carrying them, either. Periodically the child walking and being carried would switch out with one riding on a sled.
Michael also noticed that Jenny was staying close to Jeff, sometimes hanging on to his hand as she trudged through looser, deeper patches of snow, and other times trailing close behind right in his footsteps. Jeff, even tough he was helping Jenny from time to time appeared to have his mind focused elsewhere. He was not at all discouraging her efforts to stay close to him after what had happened, but he clearly was carrying a heavy load on his mind. A part of Michael felt saddened that these two youngsters had been forced to deal with such harsh realities like they had tonight. Another part actually admired them for the level of courage they had both demonstrated at such a young age. That is when it finally hit him. Those two young teenagers and all the other children were the real reason for The Haven. What difference would any of this make if the adults manage to live longer, even a lot longer, if it did not give the next generation a better chance to carry on? Even protecting and feeding the youngsters until they were adults was not enough. They needed to be taught and equipped so they could build a good life for themselves and their children to come. The game plan had just changed for Michael. This was no longer about survival. The Haven was about carrying it forward. The Haven needed to create a heritage that would last when the names of Michael and Rose and the other adults had been forgotten, but the things they taught were carried on and passed to those who followed.
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Post by ydderf on Jan 17, 2017 12:55:57 GMT -6
Thank you for the new chapter PPB. I'm not sure if you've considered it but the hood off a vehicle makes a dandy sled. I've used one to carry rocks off a plowed field.
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Post by papaof2 on Jan 17, 2017 13:33:41 GMT -6
Our nearest blood relatives are some cousins who are 120 miles away. Our children are 150 and 650 miles away. A brother and his family are 400 miles away.
Our friends of 30+ years are 4 miles away. Their kids are 470 and 1400 miles away.
If the SHTF, those friends are the ones I may be close enough to help. If SHTF happened when family was visiting, practical matters would likely have a bearing - our kids are 30 years younger than us and our friends and the grandkids are teenagers. That younger muscle might be essential to some of us surviving. Having unexpected people on-site would more rapidly deplete any stored food, water or other consumables (12 months food for 2 becomes 6 months food for 4 or 4 months food for 6 and so forth). In the right season, a garden is possible (hope you have heirloom seeds so you can save the seeds for next year) but November through March aren't garden months in much of the country.
Another couple from church lives in a condo complex that's close to a new sports venue (they're looking for another place). They're less than 10 miles away - but could they get here if things go sideways? Would they be able to call and ask me to get them? Should I give them precedence over the grandkids? Could I give anyone precedence over the grandkids?
If the pastor at our church asked sanctuary for his family, would having 4 girls in the mix be preserving breeding stock or would their presence be a security nightmare?
Lots of questions that most of us don't want to be forced to provide answers for. That's one reason we read PAW fiction - to see how each author tries to answer the hard questions.
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Post by pbbrown0 on Jan 17, 2017 18:38:46 GMT -6
Yup, How many times have you been reading PAW fiction and were suddenly struck with, "Gee, I never thought of it quite that way!" No one has all the answers, and very few of the answers are right for everyone or every situation. Take ydderf's comment above as a perfect example. The prepared brain is better than the brain that has it all figured out.
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Post by misterjimbo on Jan 17, 2017 22:39:44 GMT -6
Excellent story. I cant wait for the next installment. Thanks!!
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Post by solo on Jan 18, 2017 16:32:22 GMT -6
I read a lot of these at work and as such I can't log in to respond... Excellent work and I can't wait to read more.... Of course, I will have to, but really wish I didn't have to...
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Post by pbbrown0 on Jan 20, 2017 9:10:28 GMT -6
OUT OF THE STUMP Post # 9
When they finally reached Michael's house, the first thing they did was to get Doug off the litter and everyone inside to get warm. Michael got fires started in the wood burning stove and stone fireplace while everyone shed their backpacks and snow clothes. Most of them found a place to sit and rest for a few minutes, but soon some of them started looking around inside the house. Other than Rose and Michael, no one had ever seen Michael's log house. Actually it looked more like a lodge than a simple house. Michael had partitioned off only one small portion at one end where he slept. The core of the lodge consisted of a very long great room with its high vaulted ceiling supported by log rafters. Along the log walls of the great room, actually it was almost like a great hall, there were two transepts, or two sets of paired wings, opening out to both sides of the central hall. The walls were nine feet high and made completely of stripped and stacked logs at least a foot thick, that were cut to interlock at the corners. The floors were made of hewn heavy oak planks. All the wood surfaces were sealed with a mixture Michael had blended himself from bulk grocery store ingredients. The high ceilings, reaching almost twenty feet high at the peak, and long open spaces gave the lodge an almost cavernous appearance. There was a large stone fireplace in the center of the great hall near one end. To one side of the great hall near the other end was the large wood burning cook stove and the open kitchen area.
Colleen suggested they all get something to eat, and Rose offered to help Cathy and Lucy get the youngest children and babies settled in for some rest. Michael gave Colleen a tour of his pantry and food cellar along with a quick tutorial on his wood burning cook stove. Colleen soon was enlisting the help of several others to get a hot meal ready.
Some of the men were exploring the lodge and looking at how it was constructed. Josh pointed out that it was rather unusual for a log house, because there was no chinking or daubing between the logs. In spite of this missing element there was no sign of air drafts leaking between the logs. When Michael joined them after giving his tour of the pantry and kitchen he was bombarded with questions. Pete especially wanted to know how Michael had been able to get a crane up the mountain without a road. Josh, who did a lot of work in the village as a handyman, even noticed there were no saw marks on the ends of the logs where the ends were exposed near the interlocking corner joins. Every answer Michael offered only led to more questions. Michael explained to an incredulous group that he had decided to work The Haven without electric or combustion motors. It was all done with hand tools, including the log lifting. That revelation had several of the men looking up at the log rafters high overhead. He went on to explain that eventually The Haven would need expanding to accommodate more people, so he would be glad to teach all of them his personal techniques when they were ready.
Before long the food was ready. There was only one table with two benches, so most of the group had to eat sitting on the floor. Some of the adults commented that although they all felt like it had been a long day already, it was well before noon. Then they realized it was because they had been up all night. So much had been going on they had lost their normal sense of the passage of time with their activities being so out of sync with their normal daily cycle.
Michael announced that he needed to check on the animals, and anyone who wanted could come along now or wait until later. He smiled as he told them it would be okay if they did not want to come now, because they would all be making many visits to the animals later. A few stayed to watch over the babies and smallest children who were napping, and several were helping to clean up after the meal. The rest of the group came along. Michael was pleased that in spite of the cold and the delays in checking on them, the water troughs had not frozen over. He had build compost cribs on the northern sides of his animal shelters with additional wind screens made out of branches and leaves leaning over the cribs and under the eaves of the shelter roofs. The heat generated from the composting was moderating the cold temperatures and protecting the animals inside. He had also built rocket stove style clay and stone fire places into the opposite sides of the shelters, so he could provide additional warmth if necessary without exposing the animals or their winter hay directly to the flames. In the chicken coups Michael coached only a few from the group to follow him in. He explained that they needed to be gentle but firm with the chickens as they gathered any eggs they found. He also gave everyone a lesson in milking nanny goats, as it had been a day and a half since their last milking. The newcomers were impressed with the whole livestock situation and especially the friendliness of Rufus and Belle, the two huge, snow-white dogs.
When they all returned to the house the milk and eggs were put away in the cooling cellar. Rose recommended that every one needed to get some rest, because some would need to make another trek to her old house before dark to retrieve the food in canning jars. If they were left over night in the garage the jars would freeze and be ruined. Michael asked who might feel up to another trek to retrieve more of the supplies later in the day. All of the men volunteered and most of the women did too, except Lucy Smith and Cathy Du Bois who were both caring for their babies. It was decided that Rose should stay at the lodge, since she knew more about Michael's place and the supplies on hand. Liz would also stay to help with the children and keep an eye on Doug. Michael suggested that Jacob Du Bois and Jeff stay too, 'just in case'. Josh Smith would come on the trek back to the Van Hoosen house along with Liam, Colleen, Pete, Beth, and Michael to bring back as much as they could. Rose and Beth insisted that since they had both grabbed a couple of hours of sleep last night that everyone else needed to take a real break and catch a nap for at least two if not three hours. They insisted on the parents of the babies going ahead and catching a nap, and the two of them would stay awake to tend to the children and babies if any of them awakened before their parents finished their naps.
Michael was startled awake while the others were still napping. Rose was concerned and asked why he woke so suddenly. “There is something I need to do before we go back to your old house. We have too many jars to load on the litter.” Michel found Jeff and got him awake to come and help. They bundled up again and grabbed their axes before going to Michael's log pile. Michael found a couple of log stubs about four feet long and showed Jeff how to start splitting the logs into planks. Jeff picked up on the technique very quickly and went to work on his own log stub. In a short time they had four planks cut, trimmed, and notched to use as skids for bringing boxes of canning jars across the snow. Michael was impressed with how quickly Jeff was grasping these axe techniques. Michael knew Jeff would be tired now, but he would be able to get more rest staying at the lodge while others made the trek to the Van Hoosen house. Michael made a mental note to make time before the next trip to build better sleds for carrying heavy loads over the snow. This had been a quick and dirty job since they has a close time deadline to beat.
Soon the team that would be retrieving the canning jars was ready. They made good time heading back to the Van Hoosen house, since the path was already getting packed and it was down hill. As they made their way, questions came up about the situation inside Rose's house. Everyone had been more cautious about asking details with the children around, and they also realized it had been a frightening memory for Rose. They also wanted to know more about what happened at the Brennan's house. That discussion put the whole group in a rather somber mood. Especially with their decision to try and do something about the horrible situation in Roses front room. Michael had at first left things alone in that room thinking the Sheriff would want things undisturbed until he could investigate what had happened. Now, unfortunately, the Sheriff had too many huge problems in the more populated areas of the county to waste time on a 'small' incident like that.
The first thing they gave attention to when they arrived was the canned foods. They rebuilt the fire in the garage so the jars would be warm enough to last through their trek back to the Haven without freezing. Even if the jars did not break the expansion of the food inside as it froze would likely break the vacuum seals on the lids. They also had to be careful to not let them get too hot or they would face the same issue with the jar seals.
While the fire was rewarming the jars there were other jobs to do. They needed to move the truck left by those savages out of sight from the road. They also needed to see what they could do about the front room. It took a while to clean things up. Liam and Josh managed to drag the bodies out to the truck then dumped them in the woods in separated locations adjacent to the road several hundred past the entrance to the Van Hoosen's drive. They figured nature would take care of the rest of that issue. Next Liam and Josh moved the truck around in back of the house so it would not attract the attention of anyone on the main road. Michael was out in the garage tending to the fire and jars, and also looking through the barn for tools and supplies that might be useful. After the cleaning in the front room was finished Colleen and Beth found Rose's cellar and laughed when they realized how many canning jars were stored down there protected from the freezing. Pete salvaged some useful items from the scavengers' truck when Liam and Josh brought it around back, then went to retrieved and clean up the weapons that had been left in the front room, including Michael's tools.
While Liam and Josh were working to hide the truck behind the barn, Pete came running out of the house. “Someone is coming!” A blue BMW was turning off the road and very slowly making its way down the long drive to the house.
“I don't know who that is but someone has bashed the windshield and some fenders of their car.” Pete was peering around the corner of the house as came to look.
“Josh,” Michael was peeking around the corner now too, “get the ladies into the cellar and you guard the door. Pete get one of the guns and cover the front from this side. Liam get the other gun and cover the front from the other side. Stay safe and use your heads.” Michael went in the back door and through the house to peek through a window at the front. The car slowly pulled up toward the front of the house and stopped with the engine still running. Michael could see there was only a driver visible, but the windshield was too fractured to make out any details. After a few seconds the driver honked the horn three times and continued to sit there. Michael finally shouted out the window from behind cover, “Who are you? What do you want?”
He saw some movement from inside the car and a lady shouted back. “Who are you, and where is Rose?After a few seconds Michael shouted back, “Rose is safe, who are you?”
There was a pause before the lady shouted again. “I can't just take your word. I need to see her to know she is safe.” There was another long pause. “Did she go to Michael's place?”
“Rebecca, is that you?” Michael headed to the front door and the driver's door opened as its hinges groaned. Rebecca was climbing out of her car as Michael came out on the porch. He saw right away her forehead and hair were bloody under the hood of her down coat. She was wearing boots and ski pants under the coat. She looked a lot less like a lawyer than when he had seen her last.
They got her inside the house and the group gathered around. Michael introduced everyone, and then asked the obvious question. “You look like you had a rough time getting here, Rebecca. Why did you decide to come all the way out here?”
The short version was that things had gotten really crazy and dangerous in Newburough where she lived, just south of the county seat. She related to the group how she had thought of Rose being out in the country away from that danger, but also isolated and all alone. She was wondering if Rose was alright, then she thought about Michael's promise to check on her periodically. That is when she started connecting the dots. Things Michael had said when getting ready to buy his property, and then when they were planning out how to help Rose with her property problems finally came together in her mind. She realized, Michael had foreseen something like this happening, and he was out here getting ready for it. Her best chance to get through this nightmare was to try to get out here to Michael and Rose. She had been mugged by someone in Newburough who stole the basket of groceries she was trying to wheel from her apartment to her car in the parking garage. Then she almost did not get through Princeton, the county seat. She got caught there in the edge of a small riot at the shopping complex on the outskirts of town. That was where her car was beaten on by people trying to stop her to take her car She had driven straight through from her home never stopping in the county seat, Sylvan, or even in New Sidon.
They got Rebecca's scalp wound cleaned up and her car moved behind the barn. Michael was starting to worry about how many vehicles were accumulating. Then they started loading the canning jars on the litter and the skid planks Michael and Jeff had made. With the total weight distributed among a number of lighter loads the skids would not sink as deep. This would make it easier to slide them along on top of the snow.
The team was later starting the trek back to The Haven than any of them had planned, but they were less troubled on the trek back with the snow since the trail had been packed down several times before. Rebecca was even doing fine without snow shoes. And the rest of the team decided to dispense with theirs. That made it easier to tow the skids. The time seemed to pass more quickly with Rebecca telling about what had been happening in the city and relating tales of the close calls she went through getting here. The group was also catching her up on all that had happened with the group getting out to Michael's Haven. It was dark by the time they got 'home', and the greetings were warm and enthusiastic. A hot meal was waiting for them and it lifted their spirits after the grizzly chores they had tended to that afternoon. In the middle of the meal Michael stood up and asked for everyone's attention.
“I don't want to make a long speech. We all have had a very long and tiring day, actually it has been almost two days. Too much has changed in the last few weeks for us to even grasp yet, and all of our lives are pointing down a new and unfamiliar path. We haven't had much time to get to know one another very well yet. However, what I have seen in just this short time tells me that we are all going to make it through this helping each other adapt to what ever we encounter. We are starting a new and very different venture together. Some of you already know that just yesterday Rose agreed to be my wife. Of course, she first had to get me to wake up enough to go ahead and ask her.” That got some chuckles from several in the room.
“We don't have a marriage license, but I think it would be a bit ridiculous to hold off getting married until the county clerks office is fully functioning again. Years ago when I was a young man I was the ordained pastor of a church, and as such I was licensed to perform marriages. This is not the way it is normally done, with a pastor officiating over his own wedding ceremony, but it appears that so much of what we use to consider normal is no longer normal. If y'all are all willing to be witnesses, I would like for Rose and I to get married this evening and mark the beginning of our new life together in this new home.”
The ceremony was informal but serious in that setting as Michael and Rose made their commitments to each other in front of this gathering of families and new friends. Most of the adults were beginning to grasp the serious and precarious nature of the future they were facing, but they were also heartened by the commitment, determination, and love that was being demonstrated and lived out among them. The ceremony with Rose and Michael was a touching, symbolic milestone reminding them of the motivations, choices, and commitments that had been made among their whole group through the last twenty-four hours.
The next morning it seemed that everyone but the two couples with babies had over slept. By the time a few others were getting up there were two pots of coffee waiting and a large covered pan of scrambled eggs near the cook stove. Colleen was starting to make grits. When Rose got to the kitchen and saw what was already prepared she took Cathy and Lucy with her down into the cellar. They brought back a block of goat cheese, two cold pitchers of goats milk, and some bacon flavored jerky. Then the ladies began making the rounds getting everyone awake for breakfast. Michael was totally surprised when Rose had to stir him to get him awake. He asked about the time and seemed totally stunned that he had slept so far past his normal time to wake up.
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Post by kaijafon on Jan 21, 2017 12:48:11 GMT -6
Thank you! I appreciate your hard work on this great story!
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Post by pbbrown0 on Jan 26, 2017 18:01:40 GMT -6
OUT OF THE STUMP Post # 10
The next few weeks were filled with efforts to retrieve all the supplies they could while gearing up for accommodating a much larger group than the Haven had been ready to support. Fortunately the old timers in New Sidon had been right. This winter was not as cold as the last. Other than the storm system that came in right after Thanksgiving, there had been only occasional flurries and in most days there were at least a couple of hours when the temperatures rose above the freezing mark. Michael's worries about leaving such a clear path pointing directly to The Haven were literally literally melting away. This made it much easier to get the work done at first for moving the remainder of the supplies from the Van Hoosen House to The Haven, that is until the snow melted completely along the path and left the muddy ground. The path melted first due to the weighted traffic, and they quickly found that it was easier to create new pathways with the sleds than Michael and Jeff had made on the nearby patches of snow. Once all the supplies had been transferred, Including the food and other useful supplies from Rose's old house and barn, the focus shifted to making The Haven more comfortable for this larger than anticipated group.
Rose's linen closets and sewing room provided some greatly appreciate help in making things more comfortable. Most of the families had brought some sleeping bags, but no one thought about packing any towels or wash cloths, and there were several who were having to share sleeping bags until more blankets were brought from the Van Hoosen house. Rose suspected that some among the group were not thinking ahead to a long stay here, but she was glad supplies they could bring from her old house. The children and the teens would be needing more clothes before long just because youngsters grow . Also, when people are working hard, like they would be on this farm, clothes get worn and torn. She was also pretty certain everyone had packed only winter clothes, and those would feel uncomfortably warm in another six months. Rose regretted not having a larger supply of fabrics, but she felt fortunate that at least she had a little extra fabric along with sewing needles and thread that could help the group.
Even after all the supplies had been transferred, every day was filled with routine daily tasks along with projects to be completed. When the days were not so cold, the animals had to be herded out of their shelters and herded back in again. They had to be fed and watered, the nannies had to be milked twice a day, and the eggs had to be gathered. At this point, with this larger group, the milk and eggs were being eaten as fast or faster than they were being produced. Some days they had to dip into the milk and eggs Michael had canned the previous summer. It took a lot of work to prepare three meals a day for twenty people, especially with the adjustment of everyone learning to cook all the meals on a wood burning stove. Cleaning the pots, pans and dishes without dishwashers or commercial detergents was something else most of the group had not anticipated. Hand washing laundry was another new experience for most of the group. The biggest adjustment, however, may have been for twenty people, including both adults and children to managing scheduling only one available tub for baths and showers. Michael, fortunately, had managed to enclose a back porch between two of the log wings for a bath room. This room did not include toilets, however. There were two narrow dog runs or sheltered, narrow hallways leading off the bathroom to the two outhouses. That made it not quite so miserable getting to an outhouse in bad weather, and it also kept some separation between them and the living quarters.
Michael was glad he already had logs cut in his log pile for partitioning out the lodge. He had cut and peeled enough during the spring and summer to assure he could keep working through the winter. Before his guests had shown up, he had intended to spent time this winter partitioning the lodge and making furniture to go in it, but at this point only a few wide planks were ready to use after he built the bathroom and outhouses. The rest of the logs still needed to be hewn into boards and panels. Schedules just seem to get off course sometimes, like when that last arctic front came roaring through and disrupted everything. Michael admitted to himself that Rose had been a big, though certainly worthwhile, disruption to his original schedule. With those disruptions and delays, however, came a lot more help and a lot more joy. He remembered an old friend who use to cynically repeat the adage, "Life is what happens while you were busy making other plans." Michael reminded himself how fortunate and grateful he was for so many interruptions that seemed troublesome at first but in hindsight could only be viewed, at least by him, as providential.
Michael enlisted some eager help in quickly erecting partitions to shield the entrance to each transept. The first task for Michael was teaching several members of the group some more refined axe skills and some not so modern carpentry techniques. He did not have any chainsaws or power tools, and he had not stockpiled supplies of nails. It seemed a high priority for everyone to build more partitions within the lodge to provide better privacy, and even the most basic of furniture had obvious advantages over the bare oak floors. Michael taught them the basics of hewing and splitting the logs. He showed them how to quickly trim a peg and auger a joint to peg the panels and boards to the log walls and heavy wooden floors. He also showed them how make sturdy mortise and tenon joints for tables and chairs, and even pegged tenon joints for the beds. Some like Jeff and Josh seemed to show more skills in shaping tight joints or splitting out the boards from the logs, but the others learned quickly enough how to make serviceable joints. He and Jeff were kept busy splitting logs into planks, Josh concentrated on trimming the fit for the joints, and the others to worked to position the pieces, auger the holes, and pound the pegs into place. This allowed each family to have a measure of privacy in their own space of about four or five hundred square feet, and to have beds to sleep in.
Colleen had a lot of experience cooking for larger groups from having run the kitchen at The Tavern. She also had the foresight to bring her larger pots and pans with her when she realized the size of the group that would be gathered at The Haven. However, she depended on Liz and Rose to help her know what to expect when opening jars of home canned foods now in the common food storage cellar. For example she was not accustomed to cooking with 'canned milk' or non-refrigerated butter in glass jars. It was also a big adjustment for all of the cooks that Michael did not have any wheat flour. Colleen had brought a one hundred pound bag of flour from her kitchen at The Tavern, but that was essentially all they had for twenty people to last through the winter. One aspect of Michael's stored foods that surprised the new guests was the quantity of dried bell peppers, chili peppers, jalapeno peppers, and speckled beans (Michael called them pinto beans).
Another part of cooking and cleaning that was a big adjustment was the need to carry water from the wells. Michael mentioned that he was working on plans for piped in water, but that was a longer term goal. At least Michael had the foresight to dig the wells up hill from the lodge. The log carts were also rigged to hold multiple buckets to carry the water from the well to the lodge. Once in the lodge he had a barrel in the kitchen to hold the water for drinking and cooking. There was also a barrel rigged in the bathroom so a person could take a shower, if they remembered to add some heated water to the barrel.
The evenings after the sun was down were times for winding down from the day. The light in the lodge was provided by the fireplace, candles, and oil lamps, so the lighting had a softer, warmer feel than the group had been accustomed to having in their previous lives. In this more sedating atmosphere, there were continuing discussions about priorities and measures that needed to be addressed.
They were fortunate to have what food stores they had managed to collect, but with this many mouths it still looked like a long, lean stretch before the late spring crops could start to yield. The canned foods brought from town to The Haven by the group had amounted to far more than most people had in reserve, but, except in Michael and Rose's case, they had only prepared reserves as a supplement or short term emergency back up to the normal grocery shopping of a family. Rose and John had actually relied quite heavily on what they had produced in their farm gardens. Rose's late husband, John, had never tried his hand at raising livestock of any kind on their farm, so all of her canned foods were from their vegetable garden. The same was true of the food contributed by the Smith and Brennan families.
Rose and Colleen were particularly concerned about the limited stores of protein. Michael had been trying to build up the numbers among his live stock and had been hoping for more time before The Haven was needed by a large group. With the winter weather and the hens 'cooped up', not being able to feed outside when snow was on the ground, their egg laying had been significantly reduced. Using chickens for meat had to be managed very cautiously and balanced against the prospect of further reducing the ongoing egg production. The goats were providing milk, and the chickens were providing eggs, but not as much as these twenty people were using. There were some meats from The Tavern that had been frozen, and Michael had canned some eggs and milk from the previous summer. It surprised them that Michael's pinto beans had more protein than other beans, but that was still considerably less than in meat. The deer population was not very high in the region with the hunting season being recently finished, but then again the Van Hoosen land was fairly sizable, and John Van Hoosen had never been one to actively offer hunting permits on his land.
It was January now the patches of snow on the south side of the mountain were getting farther apart and the mud was not as bad. Winter was by no means over, but this year it was much milder than the previous winter. Some of the group were starting to talk about making another trip into town. They were still not home free regarding the food supply, but most of the group were thinking that the many supplies they had left behind would be wonderful to have here at The Haven. They were thinking of so many things that could be used, and it seemed each person thought of some things the others had overlooked that could be helpful. Michael shared privately with Rose at first but also with a few others, his concerns about the group being lured into a permanent scavenging mode rather than learning the skills they needed to become self sustaining. Liam soon understood, but Pete was slower to let go of the immediate advantages of using the array of tools and devices he had carried at his store. Rose finally convinced Michael that he needed to mentally plant the right seeds in the minds of the group, but he would need to exercise patience in waiting for those seeds to grow. The group began making plans for another run into town to see if they could retrieve things left behind that might be useful. Liam and Michael both tried to help them realize things might be much more difficult in town than when they had first left. Caution would be crucial and they were sure to find challenging circumstances that none of them would have dreamed possible. They had to be ready to recognize the issues and dangers they could not plan for and respond quickly and effectively.
“I'm not sure I understand. What are you expecting that you are not saying?” Jacob was calm yet intense. ”Are you saying that with us away our homes may already have been robbed? Or are you saying there may be more thugs we will need to fight off?”
“That is just the point, Jacob. I do not know what we will find. We may find little has changed from three weeks ago. We may find the chaos of a war zone where angry desperate people are fighting anyone they see out of fear or desperation. We may find martial law imposed by some government or military entity. We may find disaster relief measures already implemented, but unexpected requirements must be met to receive the relief. We may find friends have been killed. We may find food we desperately need being horded and guarded by people with guns. We may find everyone is gone and the town abandoned, but they left behind many useful items. We may find people we know or that we don't know desperately hungry, but no food to be found anywhere in town. We simply don't know. Whatever we find, we will probably face some serious and unexpected decisions without much time to choose the best path. I do not think anyone of us, myself included, should be responsible for making every decision without the rest of the group's support, but extensive debate over differing opinions might endanger the group if we find ourselves in a critical situation.”
Liam cleared his throat. 'I think what Michael is trying to say is we need to trust each other. No one wants a dictator, and no one wants to be a dictator. If the right choice is unclear or there is a difference of opinion, we have to come to a consensus quickly and then make the best of the choice we made, no matter how it turns out. There may be emergencies where there is no time for any discussion, and we have to follow whoever is leading the group at that moment just to survive. We are all going to have to learn a lot, and we as a group are going to sometimes make mistakes. The key is that we are in this together for the sake of all of us.”
Colleen started guiding the subject back toward priorities for the trip back to town. “I know we need to look to the long term, but if we fail in the short term the long term is a moot issue. I think our food supply needs to be the highest priority. Once we are more secure with that we can address other needs.”
“Colleen is right,” Beth added. “There are a lot of things I left behind that I would really like to have, but if I need something else first, like enough food to survive, then surviving is more important.”
Lucy raised her hand as if she were a student asking permission to speak in class. “Jump on in, Lucy. We are all part of the team here.” Michael gave her a big smile.
“I was just thinking. I know we don't want to steal anything, but there are several people around town who kept a small number of livestock. I really hate to say this, but if some of those people ... are gone … at the very least it might help us if we could take care of some more animals ... until their owners returned.” Lucy was obviously struggling emotionally to reconcile in herself some of the harsh possibilities within the rules of acceptable civilized behavior.
“I understand what you are trying to say, Lucy.” Doug was well past the dangers of a concussion now, and he had been working right along with the rest of the team for weeks. “That is a very good point to consider. Besides if the live stock have not had access to feed or water they may be in a desperate situation as well. Like Michael was saying earlier, we need to be alert and able to make decisions when the unexpected pops up. If we add livestock to our list of priorities for things to bring back, however, we have to add food for the livestock into the equation. Transporting the livestock may also present some challenges. Do all of you remember how hard it was to transport just one man up this mountain?” He finished with a smirk.
They all generally agreed about food being the first priority. They also concluded that using two vehicles would be the best plan. It might limit the quantities they could retrieve in a single trip, but that was a trade off to reduce or avoid unwanted attention to their efforts. They would use Pete's large pickup truck and Liam's large SUV to get the most capacity. Given the unknowns back in town, their plan was to leave the Van Hoosen house after midnight and return as soon as they could. There was some discussion of how many people to take. More people could quickly look through more places for supplies and load the supplies up more quickly, but more people also took up more space in the vehicles. Cathy brought up the possibility of finding friends who were starving, and being able to get them in the vehicles and still load enough food supplies to make a positive difference for the whole group. Liam expressed a concern about the group not getting divided if they ran into a risky situation in town. Doug mentioned that he thought some one should stay at the Van Hoosen house to guard against a problem sneaking in the back door while the group was divided.
Pete was shaking his head slowly. “All of you are right. Just a couple of weeks ago I was thinking it would be such a simple thing to go back home and get some more of our things once we settled in. These are all serious decisions, and we need to be very careful how we plan, and what we get first. Every decision we make about what we bring back or do not bring back is very important. Depending on what we find when we get to town, it may be even more difficult to go back a second time, or it may be a cake walk after the first time.”
The final plans were worked out. Jacob and Pete would go as far as the Van Hoosen house and keep watch on the road. If anyone showed up snooping around the house they would keep an eye on them and try to wait for the return of the group from town before deciding on a course of action. That would mean intercepting the returning group out on the road before they were within sight of the house. Liam, Colleen, Doug, and Michael would take the two vehicles into town and see what they could find. Everyone else would stay at the Haven until the group returned.
When the two vehicles got to town they had already turned off their lights including the dash lights. They quickly got off the main road and onto some familiar side streets. It was disheartening to see busted out windows and couple of front doors standing open. Those houses were most certainly empty now considering the weather. The worst sign was the Springfield's house. Henry and Emma Springfield were a very refined couple with a house that was probably the largest in town. The house was an older three story brick and stone house that had belonged to Henry's grandfather. There were actually dim lights showing through some of the windows, and a number of rough looking vehicles parked on their once manicured lawn. They also spotted a man standing in the pickup bed of one of those vehicles smoking a cigarette while cradling a rifle in one arm. The team turned away well before they got close to that danger point. They crossed the main road to give wide berth to the Springfield's house and headed over to the Wilson's house. Lucy had talked about her friend Karen Wilson who was starting to raise goats and rabbits, and Liam and Colleen remembered Bob Wilson stopping by The Tavern occasionally.
Their hearts sank when they approached the Wilson house. The front door was open and a front window was missing. They cautiously pulled around the side of the house and climbed out to investigate on foot. When they got around to the back of the house they saw Bob and Karen's small pickup parked near the back door. They also noticed the door to a large shed behind the house hanging open. Inside the shed they found some empty rabbit cages and goat pens. There were several bales of hay and bags of feed still in there but no goats. They were walking back toward the house, when Colleen remembered Lucy mentioning Karen's girls playing with her daughter, Sally. She was dreading what they would find, but everyone agreed they needed to check inside for signs of the family. The back door was locked, so they had to go around front. The door had been kicked in breaking the latch through the door jamb. Karen and Bob were laying dead on the floor in the front room. The moon was not yet in the first quarter and there was a partial cloud cover so there was enough light to see outside, but with only the dim moonlight coming through some curtained windows the house contained some very deep shadows. They were reluctant to turn on a flashlight that might be seen too easily by others from a short distance with all the lights off. Liam cautiously moved a little farther into the house and in the dim light saw the kitchen had been ransacked. He came back to the others and whispered what he had found.
They were whispering to each other considering whether to look further or to leave when Doug stopped them. “Do you smell that?”
Liam responded, “I'm afraid the bodies are starting to smell. We need to get out of here.”
“I'm not talking about that. There is another smell. It smells like the animal shed in here.”
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Post by 9idrr on Jan 26, 2017 20:23:54 GMT -6
Well written new chapter. Hopefully the ruffians will keep to themselves long enough for the good guys to salvage at least some goodies and retreat.
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Post by ydderf on Jan 27, 2017 18:32:48 GMT -6
Sounds to me like our group needs the help of a group of ex marines.
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Post by 9idrr on Jan 27, 2017 21:07:36 GMT -6
Sounds to me like our group needs the help of a group of ex marines. Thought I'd heard that the only "ex Marine" is one who had disgraced the Corps or its image, like that late Dem Senator who tap danced on his crank with golf shoes. His name was Murtha, iirc, and even lots of members of his own Party who were U(ncle)S(am's)M(isguided)C(hildren) unloaded on him. But, what do I know, just havin' been a lowly 11Bravo.
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Post by kaijafon on Jan 28, 2017 4:43:52 GMT -6
thank you! I'm glad they are being smart and at least trying to talk about and plan for the various things that could happen.
sounds like a gang has moved in and taken over.
and I found it interesting that there was no mention of weapons for self defense.
thanks again!
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Post by pbbrown0 on Jan 28, 2017 15:00:39 GMT -6
OUT OF THE STUMP Post # 11
They all four without thinking looked at each other as if to check each other's expressions in the dark house. The shadows were so deep the only reading they could get was that non of them had a ready explanation for that smell inside the house. Finally Colleen whispered, “You're right. I smell it, too. That does seem odd.”
Michael whispered back, “It is curious enough that we need to check into it, carefully. The back door was locked. I'll watch the front of the house for anyone that might come while y'all are searching the rest of the house.” Michael removed his back pack and pulled a pistol out of a side pocket on the pack to hand to Liam. He cupped his hand over a tiny flashlight so Liam could see to check his new weapon. It was a Smith & Wesson M&P 45. “Just in case, Liam. Be quiet, and be careful.” Michael also handed his flashlight to Liam before he turned and went out the front door. He quietly moved to a front corner of the house where he crouched down by the foundation. From here he could see the entrance to the shed behind the house as well as a wide space to the front and side of the house. He slipped his right hand inside the buttons on the front of his coat and rested his hand on the handle of the twin to the weapon he had handed Liam.
Since the attack on Rose, Michael had been diligent to never leave the lodge without a weapon, but he had also been diligent to keep that fact hidden from the group. He deeply wished this precaution was not necessary, and he wanted to avoid a mentality among the group of their being under siege. They findings tonight had confirmed, however that the threats were real and pervasive. Bob and Karen Wilson had been shot with no sign of a scuffle or fight. From now on the group needed to be prepared to encounter armed marauders at any turn.
Liam, Doug, and Colleen spread out and started cautiously searching the house. Liam felt something odd under his feet when he got near the back door. He pulled out a pocket flashlight and cupped his hand over it before turning it on so he could see what he was stepping on. It was a light sprinkling of hay straw. He followed a wide but disperse trail of it to a narrow door in the hallway. There was a bit more straw either side of the door. He carefully tried the door knob, which turned easily, but the door would not open. It was apparently jammed from the other side. He knelt down and leaned near the small gap at the bottom of the door and got a distinct whiff of manure.
Using his shielded flashlight to help navigate more quickly through the hallway he found Colleen in a bedroom that obviously belonged to young girls. “Colleen,” he whispered. I think I found the animals. Someone took them into the basement, but the door seems to be blocked.” Colleen borrowed his flashlight and carefully looked around the girl's room for a minute. Then she returned Liam's flashlight and followed him to the back door.
When she got to the door she rapped lightly on it and called out softly. “Megan? Melissa? Are you alright?” There was no response so she tried again. “Megan? Melissa? Can we help you?”
They heard a little girl behind the door ask in a frightened voice, “Who are you?”
“I'm Colleen. Colleen Callaghan. My husband Liam and I ran The Tavern here in town. We want to get you to a safe place. Can you open the door?” Liam was tucking his weapon under his own coat in the back of his belt now. They heard a board rattle and Colleen got down on her knees telling Liam to put just a little light on her face. The door opened a crack and then a bit wider. “I know you're scared, sweet girl. We want to get you away from here so no one can hurt you. You have been very brave, but we are here now to protect you.” The door started slowly opening, but with the flashlight on her face Colleen could not see well into the darkened basement. Colleen gently held her arms out and waited for the girl to approach. As the girl took some tentative steps up out of the blackness of the basement, Colleen gently stood and wrapped her arms around the trembling twelve year old girl who was taller than Colleen had expected.
“Melissa and I have been hiding with the goats in the basement to stay safe. We had to let the rabbits out because I couldn't move the cages.”
“I understand, Megan. You have done very well. We have some friends with us and we want to take you to a really safe place. Lucy Smith is there with her family too, waiting for you.”
Megan gasped and looked back toward the basement stairs. “Melissa, we're going to see Sally and baby Jessica!” she called over her shoulder in an excited but hushed voice.
Michael kept watch while the girls and goats were loaded into the Callaghan's SUV. They also loaded the bags of feed and bales of hay from the shed into Pete's truck. There was even a stash of sweet potatoes, carrots, beets, dried apples, and walnuts from the Wilson's basement. When they were ready to leave Michael suggested one more stop at Pete's store. They tried to drive as quietly as possible over to the store with their lights off. Pete had mentioned to Michael at the Van Hoosen house that he had forgotten about the last shipment he had received at the store just as the power went out. The last shipment had included a late season special from the distributor of freeze dried food packets that had not sold the previous summer. Pete knew the expiration date was well in the future so he had stocked up at the bargain price. While they were at the store they also loaded up with a number of hand tools and other supplies they knew would be helpful.
Everyone was anxious to get away from town, especially after what they had seen at the Springfield's and then finding what had happened at the Wilson's house. They agreed they had found enough for this run, and crept back out of town. The clouds were clearing now, and they were able to pick up a little speed on the road back to the Van Hoosen house without using their lights. As they got closer to the turnoff for the house, they slowed to watch for Jacob or Pete to be warning them of a problem. When they reached the turn off Pete and Jacob suddenly appeared on opposite sides of the road, both holding a thumbs up signal. The two men hopped in the back of the pickup and the troop continued down the drive to the back of the house.
After some shuffling they managed to get the loads balanced on the sleds. They decided to tether the goats together and tie the tether to the back of a sled to lead them up the mountain. They had Megan and Melissa both sitting on a bale of hay at the back of one sled watching over the goats and talking to them. The rest of the load of feed, food, and tools was distributed among the two sleds. The continued closeness of the family of goats with the two girls, after days together in a rather dark basement, kept them even more subdued than expected. Michael noted these goats were one of the new cross breeds mixing Angora with a small dairy breed. He wasn't a goat expert, so he could not pick out the distinguishing nuances to identify the name of this cross breed, but it would clearly expand the gene pool for their herd. He had selected his original family of goats for meat and dairy advantages, but these had strong wool producing characteristics.
When the group approached the lodge, Jeff met them outside. He had not been mentioned in the discussions of the adults about who should go and who should stay, but Jeff's sense of being on guard was still heightened after the experience he had with the Brennan family. He would be turning sixteen this month and had been thinking to himself about all the changes going on. In his own mind he was thinking the time had come for him to be growing up in a serious world. He had awakened about two hours earlier and had been watching for the group's return. The goats were herded into the goat shed and then the girls were taken to the lodge. Liam stopped Michael on the front porch before entering the lodge to return the pistol to Michael. Michael quietly told him he needed to keep it now, but to also keep it out of sight as much as possible. Liam nodded without saying anything.
With the stirring around in the Great Room the other adults were waking up and wanting to be sure everyone was back safely. Megan and Melissa were especially excited to see Lucy and were clinging tightly to her. While the team was warming up by the fire, the others were preparing something for them to eat, and tending to the young additions to their group. Everyone wanted to know what had happened, but Colleen suggested some of that discussion should wait until Melissa and Megan had a chance to rest. Liam explained that they had acquired a number of goats and enough feed for them to last until spring. There also some other additions to their food supplies found and some tools that would be helpful. Doug remembered the root crops they had found in the Wilson's basement, and reminded everyone of the need to get those to the root cellar before they froze outside. Lucy, Cathy, and Colleen stayed inside to get Megan and Melissa settled in, but with so many helping, the sleds were unloaded in a matter of minutes.
Colleen and Lucy got the Wilson girls settled into a large sleeping bag near the fireplace. They were soon asleep, and the other children were not awake yet. As tired as the team was after their excursion into town, they knew this was the best time to explain to the adults more about what they had seen in town. It put everyone in a somber mood, and there was not really any discussion beyond the telling of what had actually been seen and done. When the tale was finished, it was Cathy who spoke first.
“I am so grateful that you found those two little girls. Megan is incredibly strong and resourceful to have kept her sister and their animals safe after such a horrible trauma. She is too young to carry that alone, and we need to be certain to be their new family now that she and Melissa are here with us. As strong as Megan has proven herself to be, she is still a child.” “I think Cathy is exactly right about that. In many ways, it is beginning to feel like we are all one big extended family here.” Rose was looking all around the room as she said this. “At the same time, I think it is important for Megan and Melissa to establish a special bond with one set of substitute parents in addition to the love they feel from the whole group. Those two girls really need to have a core, immediate family as well as an array of loving aunts and uncles. I never had children of my own, and though I haven't discussed it with Michael I know we would both be happy to be their parents. I don't want to preempt any decisions about that, however. It may be that they will find themselves naturally drawing closer to another couple among us. I just think we should all be sensitive to that need.”
Some of the group that had gone into town clearly needed to catch up on their rest while others were too wide awake, after a shortened night, to sleep now. The next day was not on a normal schedule, but all the necessary ongoing chores were addressed without much need for discussion of who was covering what. By evening the whole group was winding down and there were several scattered conversations about what was to be done tomorrow. With the problems seen in town, it went without saying that for the foreseeable future a person standing watch would be needed through the night, and they all needed to stay alert during the day. Their whole concept of normal life had completely changed.
In addition to a regular schedule for who was taking watch duty the group was developing a regularity about their schedule of routine tasks and activities. Michael, for one, was amazed at how well the group was developing. No assignments were being given for regular tasks or responsibilities, except of course for the parents directing their children. There were no assumptions about appropriate division of labor. When things that needed to be done were mentioned, people seemed to naturally gravitate toward tasks that suited them. Some would step forward and take the lead on any given task or project, and others would step up to help. Routine tasks would being covered, by individuals who saw a place for them to apply their efforts. If too many from the group had been drawn off for some needed project, the impact on the routine needs would be noticed, and corrected naturally. Michael mused that this was definitely not what most people formerly thought of as normal. He wondered if anyone else noticed. He also wondered if this would last.
Colleen and Rose were continuing their discussions about how to assure that the food supplies last until the crops started producing. The additional kids from the Wilson herd were being weened since they should have been already, but Megan had not thought about that under their circumstances. That meant the nannies were providing some additional milk. The additional food supplies were encouraging, but it still looked like things would get pretty lean before food production could pick up in the late spring.
With the additional tools that were brought from Pete's store several projects picked up. Even with the cold weather and occasional snow cover Michael was not wasting any time in teaching others the building and farming skills he had acquired in creating the original Haven accommodations. Some of the men, like Josh and especially young Jeff, who had picked up the timber cutting skills faster than others managed to focus their efforts there. Other members of the group were drawn more to other types of work. Doug and Jacob seemed particularly drawn to Michael's ideas about cluster planting without plowing furrows, complementary crop planting, and placement of plantings to utilize natural shade, sunlight, and drainage. Pete and Liam seemed more comfortable working on tasks requiring digging and working with rocks and clay. Michael made a point of including Jacob's son, Phillip, in these projects, too. In addition to his fetching tools and helping with clean up efforts, Michael was teaching him how to make cordage and even small ropes. He explained how to soak the bark that was removed when branches were stripped off the logs. He then showed him how to scrape and pull fibers from the softened bark to twist into cords and then how to twist the cords into ropes. Rebecca saw Phillip twisting cords together one day when his cord was getting quite long and had asked him to teach her as well.
In the evenings, when everyone was easing down after a hard day's work, Michael was talking with the group about the jobs ahead of them. He talked about ways they might get a head start on the spring planting with portable planting trays that could stay warm inside at night and catch a little sun outside on the milder days. There were additions needed for the animal sheds not only for the recent additions, but also with the anticipation of increases in the number of goats and chickens for the next year. Michael was concerned that they would need additional living space for people in the coming year, and he also knew there were time frames required to accomplish certain steps in the various construction projects and processes which should not be rushed, regardless of how much labor was available. The sanitation and water provisions would also need to be upgraded in light of the significant number of people already in their group plus those yet to come.
During these discussions and the work on these projects, several of the group began to wonder about Michael's assumption that the facilities needed to accommodate even more people than were already in this group. It was Liam who finally verbalized the question one evening. “Michael, we all know we need to be better prepared for next year with this larger group, but it seems to me that you are looking to expand the capacity of The Haven well beyond this number. What is the full story here. Why don't you talk us through what you are thinking, so we are all together on this and know what to expect.”
“Liam, you are right that we need to talk about this. The reason I have not brought it up to discuss directly is that I don't know for certain what to expect. When I started the Haven, I knew it was not just a place for me to retire and hopefully survive what might happen. I had some pretty strong notions about what would happen, but I couldn't know for sure my expectations were correct.. When I built this house, for example, I did not really design it for a specific number of people. I just built it with the idea of accommodating more than just myself, and this is how it turned out. When I finally realized the Haven was needed 'right now', the number of people I told you we could handle was a number I pulled out of my hat on a moment's notice based on the layout of the house. That may seem backwards from a planning perspective, but I am just telling it like it is. We are still on thin ice regarding our food supply for this many people, in spite of what we found on our last trip to town, but it seems that this is the right size group for what we are doing and what we can handle right now.”
Unlike the others, Rebecca had seen what was happening in some of the towns nearby which were larger than New Sidon, and had been pondering Michael's foresight in preparing for these events. Some of Michael's methods still felt a bit extreme to her, but she had felt the same way at one point about his stipulations for the land deeds. She was grateful for his foresight in those areas, and she was unable to argue with how well prepared he seemed for dealing with the latest breakdown of basic services. She would never have anticipated the power outage lasting this long , nor would she have anticipated the after effects of that outage. “Michael, you said you could not be certain, but you had some pretty strong notions about what would happen. What can you tell us about your notions for what we need to get ready for next?”
By this point in the evening a number of the younger children were already in bed. Jeff and Jennifer were still up, and twelve year old Megan had curled up into Liam's lap. Michael continued. “We all know how bad things were in New Sidon, but that is a very small town that is several miles miles away from any larger towns, and quite a few miles from any city. Those were all small distances for driving under previous conditions, but fortunately for us it takes quite a bit longer to walk that far. There are hordes of people in the cities that are certain to be in desperate shape by now. Most of the troubles that came to New Sidon were people who fled from the larger towns early, while they still had fuel, just to find easier places to steal what they wanted. There are many more people in the cities who would think like that and eventually decide it might be less dangerous in the smaller towns, but it will take them longer now to get this far out. There are countless people in the cities who did not have any food stored for emergencies. What they did to survive I do not know, but I hope some of them found a way to survive without becoming savages. I am also certain that others survived by doing just that, becoming savages. The cities do not really produce food; they only gather and consume food. Sooner or later many of the savages who are left and the “not savages” who are left are going to spread out looking for a way to survive. Some of each kind are bound to happen by here. We cannot survive if we let the savages into this place. At the same time we will have a very hard time surviving if we share the food we have with countless numbers of others. It will also be hard to keep our self respect, if we turn away someone who happens upon this place and is starving, but who refused to turn savage. If a large group of non-savages show up, it might be pretty clear cut to us and to them that we cannot care for that many. What if a few show up and we decide we can help them, but then a few more come a little later, and a little later a few more come by. That is why I want us to be prepared to help more than merely ourselves. I just really don't know how many. How can we plan for that? How many is too many, and how many is not doing enough?”
Jacob's voice was one of calm resolve. “You are right, Michael. We cannot predict exactly how many of which kind fate will bring to our door, nor when this will be. All we know for a certainty is that how we respond to both types defines who we are.”
Josh, spoke up as he put an arm around Lucy. “I am not as wise as some of you, but there are moments that I feel I have had to mature ten years in my thinking in the last two months. We can't realistically prepare for an unlimited number of either type, the savage or the respectful. On the other hand, if we don't prepare for enough of either type we will find ourselves in deep trouble. Too many mouths to feed could be just as bad as too many savages to fend off. It seems to me that we need to determine how many of either kind is reasonable for us to prepare to handle, given our resources and the time it takes to complete the preparations. If that is what we can reasonably do, then that is what we should do. The rest is not up to us.”
The next day Michael found himself working outside with Liam, Doug, Pete, and Jeff while Jacob, Josh, and Phillip were working on a project not far away. “Gentlemen...” Michael was feeling a bit awkward bringing up this serious subject apart from the whole group, but he was sensing that Jacob and Josh would not be quite as open to this subject as the rest. “I think we need to face the unpleasant reality that we are in a genuinely dangerous world. I know we have someone taking guard duty every night, but it is too easy to forget that this really is a Haven surrounded by a hostile world. I see the need to keep this place feeling like a safe haven, but whenever we step very far away we must put on a different mindset. I know Pete has done some hunting and brought some guns with him. I have not discussed this with every one, but I have had a few weapons here all along, too. I have two rifles with barrels that are somewhat shorter than your average hunting rifles and two pistols. I gave one of those pistols to Liam while we were on our last expedition into town. The pistols are .45 caliber and my rifles are .308. I did not want to put my weapons in everyone's face, especially the children, but I also want you to understand how serious I am about defending this place and the people who have come here for refuge. If push comes to shove, I will defend this place and those who have come here to keep it a safe Haven as long as that is possible. To the extent possible that promise also extends to our families when they must be away from this Haven. If anyone is away from this immediate area, individually or in a group, I want them to be protected. Do we all understand where I am with that?”
Pete spoke up. “I am glad to hear you say that plainly, Michael, and I completely agree. We have already seen too much violence against people who are unprepared. So you will all know, I brought a few hunting rifles and two .45 caliber pistols. Beth and Jeff already know how to use them. I also have two more rifles I took from those... trouble makers at Doug's place. The two who attacked Rose also left two 9mm pistols behind.” “That's good to know, Pete. Some in our group are not familiar with guns, or perhaps even anxious about them. I am asking you to help me assure that whenever one ore more of us venture away from the Haven, they have a weapon or weapons for protection. If some one is willing to learn more familiarity with guns we need to make sure they get that. However, and I know this goes against conventional wisdom, but I want us to avoid live fire practice. For one thing, ammunition is limited, and for another the sound will increase the risk of our being discovered. If someone is willing to work at it a significant level of skills can be developed with dry fire training and practice. That approach will also help us maintain the feeling of this being a safe Haven for those we are protecting, especially the children. Anyone who is on watch needs to be armed, but they need to use their weapon only as a last resort for the same reasons. It also makes sense that if a situation is bad enough to warrant firing a weapon in defense of the Haven, they would have a better chance of success and survival if they had back up. ”
The work of maintaining and building continued, and the group developed some effective routines and patterns for getting things done every day. They were all continuing to work together as a team far better than Michael had anticipated. He had not seen any of the petty jealousies that had marked so many work places of his past life. Everyone had beds now, and though there were only a very few with feather mattresses from Pete's store the sleeping bags that had been brought were much more comfortable on the thinner cedar bed slats than on the stout oak planks Michael had used for his floors. Two more tables and benches had been made so they could all sit down together for meals. The partitioning had been improved as well, and Rebecca being the only one without a family was now in a small room Michael had built for her in Michael and Rose's section of the lodge. Rose had shared with Michael one night that while there were horrible things that had happened, there was something that felt deeply good and gratifying about a group like this coming together almost like one big family.
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Post by biggkidd on Jan 28, 2017 19:31:53 GMT -6
Great work!
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Post by ydderf on Jan 28, 2017 19:56:51 GMT -6
9idrr Perhaps I should have said former or retired marines instead of ex marines I apologize if I offended any one. Being a Canadian I am not up on the intricacies of the American armed forces.
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Post by 9idrr on Jan 28, 2017 21:34:50 GMT -6
9idrr Perhaps I should have said former or retired marines instead of ex marines I apologize if I offended any one. Being a Canadian I am not up on the intricacies of the American armed forces. ydderf- I don't think it's a problem, sir. Some of us in this country aren't up on the intricacies of the American armed forces, either. As I remember it, Jarheads (Marines) will always be ready to get into it with sailors (Navy) unless they happen across an altercation between sailors and grunts (Army) and/or 'pellerheads (Chair Force), at which point Jarheads and sailors are automatically on the same side against all comers. Now, if Jarheads, sailors, grunts, 'pellerheads and hell, we'll even throw in Coasties become engaged in barroom fisticuffs with forces from another country, all Americans are now bosom buddies against the whole world. Notice that I've left out Green Beanies and SEALs, as nobody's sure if they're on anybody's side, or even human, for that matter. As a Canuckian, you north of the border are held in high esteem by most of us down here. I've heard that your Armed Forces are renowned for their skill and bravery. So again, don't worry about offending Marines, as that may be impossible. Besides, as well as you write, I'll cut you slack all day long.
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Post by kaijafon on Jan 28, 2017 23:31:12 GMT -6
"Doug and Jacob seemed particularly drawn to Michael's ideas about cluster planting without plowing furrows, complementary crop planting, and placement of plantings to utilize natural shade, sunlight, and drainage."
This sounds like "gorilla gardening". love the idea. These small gardens are perfect for small children to tend. When I was a kid, I was always given a small place to plant seeds. I had a small "plot" about 8 inches wide and 2 or 3 feet long where I planted snapdragons every year and a small place in my mom's daylily bed where I'd plant about 6 to 9 green pepper plants. I also was able to tend the strawberry beds. I got a kick out of bringing a bunch of "tadpoles" home one year and watching them grow into toads. (was actually surprised I got to do that) From that time on, every toad in our yard was "one of mine". haha! When we moved to AR, my granny gave me a raised bed that was about five by five feet and I planted a bunch of "mystery seeds". Loved it.
companion plantings work great also. And these people can make small green houses with a rock and mortar base and less 'glass' on top. I've seen some that are actually growing things in five feet of snow and -20 weather. If one has lot's of plants and a small wood burning stove type of heat, you could string up some hammocks for the "single" people. In winter. I'd probably hang out in one myself. haha!
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Post by pbbrown0 on Jan 29, 2017 8:15:10 GMT -6
The 'guerilla gardening' you mentioned is one way Michael is trying to stay under the radar, but it is also a 'more natural' and environmentally friendly way to grow crops. If someone is wandering through the woods and stumbles upon a plot that is plowed and planted in nice straight rows, it would be screaming out 'Someone is near that has food!' If, however, there is a blackberry bush or a small pear tree covered with sweet potato vines or bean vines, no one would give it a second glance. It can only work if you are not depending on a lot of equipment to do your planting and harvesting. The intent is for it to blend in both visually and botanically with the existing environment. Some one actually wrote a book about forest gardening in an environmentally integrated style. I also read somewhere about some farmers beginning to try out 'no plow planting' for their grain crops, to conserve water in the soil, reduce fuel consumption for their tractors, reduce fuel used for irrigation pumps, etc.
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Post by freebirde on Jan 29, 2017 17:28:33 GMT -6
"No till" farming is getting to be somewhat popular around here. The downside is that for field size plantings, you have to apply a lot of herbicides.
Another way to hide plantings in plain sight is to make them look like food plots for wildlife or a food plot that has gone to seed. Plant small patches of beans, peas, leaf crops, or grains near the edge of a forest or in small clearings in the forest. You will lose some to wildlife, but the upside of that is that there will be more wildlife to harvest later.
Two more ways that I've read of warming a greenhouse. The first is to build a rocket mass heater on one end, venting out the other with the stones in the floor acting as the mass. The other, from "Lucifer's Hammer", in larger greenhouses to heat with composting manure and people's body heat sleeping in it at night.
If there is a nursery/garden center in that town, looters are not likely to have hit it, but there may be some seeds and fruit trees left. Gather up the flower seeds as well, many of them have nutritional or medicinal uses (ex. foxglove's proper name is digitalis and used as heart medicine).
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Post by pbbrown0 on Jan 29, 2017 22:20:35 GMT -6
You are not allowed to cheat and read ahead, freebirde. Oops, too late. LOL As for herbicides, not on my land! If you work closely and cleverly with your plants, you can overcome or avoid the competition between your plants and what is already growing. As you will see, The Haven doesn't even use horse drawn devices to work the soil. The small patches of sunlight at the edges of trees or in a tiny clearing where the trees let the light through to a small patch for a few hours each day is the right idea. It must be managed by hand to get it to work, however. That is what Jacob and Doug got excited about. Let the patches have the appearance of a pocket where a different plant seed or seeds found a natural place to grab a toe hold (like a squash, or tomato that was partially eaten and then left to germinate). The vegetables, berry bushes, and fruit trees were growing somewhere on their own before nurseries and seed companies became a commercial industry. This farm is for the diet of the residents, not to sell produce to a wholesaler. If you work it right you can think outside the modern box and produce plenty of food for your own needs in very little space, if you are willing to work. You were also right on target with the composting and rocket heaters, too. Thanks for the feed back, friends. the conversations are as good as the writing for ideas and methods.
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Post by pbbrown0 on Feb 1, 2017 22:55:21 GMT -6
OUT OF THE STUMP Post # 12
It had been three weeks since the last venture into town, and it was becoming clear that something more had to be done about their food supply. Rose and Colleen had been busy adjusting the menus and portions with their additions from the last trip, but with everyone working hard they were burning a lot of calories, and it was still a long time before their own crops would be producing. Everyone seemed reluctant to bring up another trip into town. It just hit too close to home thinking about their little town being so dangerous and inhospitable. They finally had to face realities. They were careful about their consumption, but there just was not going to be enough for twenty-two people even if that did include babies and children needing smaller portions. There was hard work ahead before the farm would be producing enough to support just the people already in the Haven. Liam encouraged everyone to be thinking and trying to remember anything they could about their neighbors in town. Who had gardens, and who might have canned some of their own food to put back for the winter? Was there someone they knew who made their own jerky or pemmican for hunting or camping? Was there anyone who had mentioned using a smoke house, or provided any other clue about putting back food for the winter? He asked Pete who he could remember that had bought canning supplies at his store. What could they remember about someone keeping livestock or animals that might provide a lead for finding more food?
They decided to use the same vehicles again, but a different mix of team members. After some discussion, they also decided to go during daylight. Just as it was harder for others to see them at night, it was also hard for their team to see anyone who might be watching. More important was the difficulty of seeing inside houses and sheds. They would be more likely to spot something they might use if they were not having to search by flashlight. Furthermore a flash light could attract attention from quite a distance at night when all other lights in town were off. Since they were wanting to search more by daylight they would take seven in the vehicles and leave two at the Van Hoosen house. That would leave fewer at the Haven to watch over the children, but they could cover more ground searching for food. This time Michael and Colleen would guard the Van Hoosen house. Liam and Doug were staying at the Haven with Lucy and Cathy. Josh, Pete, Jacob, Rose, Liz, Beth, and Jeff were going into town.
As they approached the town Rose, Pete, Jeff, and Liz hung back just outside of town in the SUV while Josh, Beth, and Jacob eased ahead in the pickup truck. It was not quite mid-morning and they were trying to move carefully, but not so slowly or so fast as to draw attention to themselves. Truthfully, they were just plain anxious coming into town as scavengers in broad daylight. Their plan was to keep one driver in each vehicle facing each other when they stopped so the drivers could watch a wider area around where the other vehicle had stopped without having to twist around to watch their own backs. The other five would be in two teams searching for food, but one of the five would be on watch in the direction where the houses they were searching blocked the view of the drivers. At the first sign of trouble the priority was to be flight rather than fight. They had mapped out the town from memory and planned where they would look first. Beth was driving the truck and eased to a stop in front of the Henderson's. The house looked all boarded up and they sat there for a while as Liz pulled the SUV around the block to within about seventy five yards of the truck. They all sat there for a while without seeing any movement. There was an iron fence surrounding the yard with heavy masonry posts at the corners and spaced along each side of the yard. The heavy iron gate near the street was chained and padlocked. Jacob climbed out and cautiously approached the front gate.
Suddenly a small opening appeared in the plywood covering the sidelight window beside the front door, and a gun barrel poked through it. “That's far enough!” A voice came out of a speaker system by the gate. I don't know you, and I don't plan to change that. You and your friends out there just turn around and leave while you still can. That goes for your friends lurking down the block, too.”
Jacob had frozen in his tracks. “Mr. Henderson, we mean you no harm. I am Jacob Du Bois. I live here in New Sidon. We are just trying to find out what happened to others in our community. My friends are only watching our backs because of the dangers we have already seen invading our community. ”
“Those dangers are exactly why you need to turn and leave before I decide you are a wolf in sheep's clothing. People now are going to say whatever they think you will believe if it suits their purposes. I know what you are really doing. You're scavenging for whatever you can find to help yourselves. Can't trust what anybody says anymore. I have to take care of what is mine, and you have to take care of what is yours. You just turn around, drive away, and do not come back here.”
Jacob slowly turned and walked back to the truck. When he got inside he was shaking. “That was a close one. He must have a surveillance system to have seen the others at that angle. He thinks he is ready to fight off an assault on his fortress. He is frightened and desperate at this point, and a cornered animal is most dangerous.” They pulled forward and immediately turned off that street away from the Henderson's. When the others caught up in the SUV, Jacob lowered the window on the truck to explain what had happened. They decided to use more caution in approaching other houses and to keep a wider separation between vehicles.
They stopped at three more houses that were empty and took time to thoroughly explore. In one they found evidence of canning supplies, but whatever food was in the pantry had been cleared out. Another house had a cellar where some root crops had been stored in small slatted cribs but, they too were cleaned out. The Shepler's house, which was also on their list, had actually burned down. What they found at the Van Ness home on the south east edge of town was a truly disturbing sight. The raiders must have snuck in at night when the family was asleep. This was a large family, yet all of the family members had been viciously murdered in their bedrooms. The house was ransacked and the kitchen pantry was stripped of any food. Nothing of value was left in the basement except firewood for the furnace. Even in the living room it looked like Vandals had maliciously destroyed furniture for no reason. Pete and Jeff were starting to leave when Rose stopped them.
She had been staring out the kitchen window trying to pull herself together after the sickening sight she had seen in the bedrooms, when she realized what she was looking at. In the back of their large lot, under the shallow layer of snow, was the outline of a garden covering at least a quarter acre. She turned and looked at the kitchen. The kitchen was very large with two separate stoves. It contained top quality canning boilers, pressure canners, boxes full of unused canning rings and lids, and canning utensils of every description. They even had two high quality grain grinders, but something was wrong. The shelves in the kitchen pantry were not even close to extensive enough to handle the produce from a garden that size. Some of the shelf space was still filled with pots and pans, and much of the remainder seemed to have held a large quantity of baking supplies. There was still a large crockery jar half full of shortening. And some large bins, now empty that had held flour and sugar. There were also a few remaining bottles of spices and herbs, although some bottles were obviously missing. Where could all the produce from the garden have been stored? Then she saw it.
Near one wall to the side of a section of shelves, there were slight indentations on the hardwood floor parallel with the wall where castors had rolled over the same track many times. There was also a cabinet door on the wall above those tracks. She opened the door to what at first glance might look like an empty cabinet, but was in fact a dumb waiter. She pulled the shelf unit to the side along the indentations in the hardwood floor and a doorway appeared behind the shelves. There were stairs running down into the kitchen cellar. The vandals who had murdered everyone in this large, hard working family had failed to recognize the entrance to their treasure room. Rose descended the stairs and shined her flashlight around. There she gasped as she found hundreds of jars of carefully labeled and filled with canned vegetables, fruits, and more. There were rows of wooden slat cribs filled with potatoes, onions, carrots, winter squash, and beets with dry straw to cushion them and provide air space between the layers. There were also burlap bags filled with dried beans, whole oats, and dried corn kernels. There was even a one hundred pound bag of flour, a fifty pound bag of sugar, and a fifty pound bag of salt.
It took over an hour for the group to retrieve everything from the cellar and load it all in back of the SUV and the pick up bed. With this load of food and kitchen equipment the group decided to head back rather than extend their risk by staying around town any longer. Liz was still driving the SUV. Her job had been to stay with her vehicle, keep watch, and be ready to take off quickly if a fast getaway was needed. Beth, who had been in the same role driving the pickup truck, was less than a quarter mile behind.
Liz was driving Liam and Colleen's SUV leading the group home. She was excited about all the food they had found but still stunned over the horror of what happened to the Van Ness family. It was an uncomfortable reminder of what had happened to her own family just a few weeks earlier. She glanced in the rear view mirror at Jeff, and she suddenly felt a wave of gratitude that Jeff had arrived just when he did that night. He was a nice looking young fella, and only about a year older than Jenny. He was also a hard worker holding his own along side the adults. It was little wonder Jenny was smitten by him. A good looking, responsible, real live hero who had literally rescued her family and herself from a horrible fate. That was a combination of strong qualities that would not be easily shaken in Jenny's perceptions of him. They were outside of town, now, so Liz was picking up the pace a little. There was still a thin layer of snow on the road, so she did not want to push too hard, but she wanted to get home where she felt safe. She looked back in her mirrors to see if Beth was keeping up, and saw that Beth was gaining on her. “Pete, Beth seems to be closing the gap a lot. Do you think she is wanting me to go faster or is there something wrong?”
Pete looked back along with the rest of the team. That is when they saw Beth flash her headlights. “Something is wrong, Liz, but I don't know what.” Just then he saw Beth glance up at her rear view mirror and slow down. “I can't see, for sure, but I think someone may be following us.” He kept watching as Beth continued to drop further back then suddenly she dropped down and her truck veered off the road. He also thought he heard the sound of gun shots. “NO !!!”
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They had only gotten about a mile out of town when Beth saw another truck coming up from behind. She sped up to close the gap between her truck and her companions in the SUV up ahead. When she got close she flashed her headlights several times at Liz to get her attention. The truck trailing them was still gaining on them. Beth decided to slow down again to widen the gap and create more space between those people following her and her companions up ahead. Jacob and Josh noticed what what she was doing and were looking back now. Josh asked if they should stop and talk to who ever was following them and find out if they were friendly or hostile.
Just then Jacob shouted, “Get Down!” His companions barely had time to react when the back window of the truck shattered behind them as two forty-five caliber hollow point rounds smashed into the back window near where Josh and Beth had been sitting up a moment before. With Beth at the steering wheel ducking down and reacting to the noise of the window shattering inches behind her head, their truck swerved and ran off the side of the road toward the trees that were just out side the right of way.
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Liz had been watching Beth in the truck behind them as best she could while keeping her attention on the road ahead. When she heard Pete scream, she looked back in her side mirror and saw Beth driving off the road as another truck appeared behind them. Liz's brain snapped into focus. Some one was chasing them, and they were the savage kind. She could not focus on Beth, Jacob, and Josh. She needed to focus on making the right choices to protect her friends in the car she was driving.
“I heard shots! There is a guy standing in the back of that truck with a gun! Beth ducked down but I don't know if she was hit! We need to go back! Wait, not while they are chasing us and shooting.” Pete was clearly frantic, but trying to think out loud.
Rose was trying to be calm and think out loud, too. “We knew this trip could get dangerous. There are a couple of hunting rifles in the floor board, but I doubt if anyone can aim well while we are driving in the car. We must not lead them back to the house, though. That would just put more of our group at risk, and they are not prepared for a shoot out.”
Jeff already was picking up a rifle and checking the chamber. “Mrs. Brennan, we need to get off the road and into the woods! We can scatter and get real cover there behind the trees!”
“He's right.” Pete's voice was more controlled now, though he was panting. “If we spread out and use the trees for a shield we may be able to cover each other with our crossfire. I also brought those hand guns we took off of those hoodlums that attacked you, Rose. That means we will each have a weapon.”
At that moment the back window of the SUV was shattered and everyone but Liz ducked. She was scared, but was gripping the wheel tightly determined to control her emotions. Up ahead she saw a small road or more likely private drive to an unknown house off in the woods. She let off the accelerator to begin slowing down on the snowy road so she could make the turn off up ahead. “Watch my back! We are going to turn off up ahead!” She was gauging her distance to the turn, but the truck was gaining on them more quickly with her slowing down. With the snow on the road she was at risk of skidding in the turn if she took it too fast..
As she was working out the timing in her head, Jeff shouted, “Look out!”
Liz tapped the brake pedal, just like warning another driver coming up too fast from behind on the highway that they were getting too close. It seemed to work. She saw them sliding just a bit on the snow packed road and they dropped back for a short time, then they picked up the chase again. She had to be careful with the snow, but she absolutely had to make that turn and head into the woods. Fortunately, Liam's SUV had all wheel drive. She could not afford to look back now. She had to concentrate on making the turn. She had just gotten through the turn and started accelerating down the private road when she heard another shout from Pete and then there was a deafening crash.
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Post by ydderf on Feb 2, 2017 9:14:04 GMT -6
Watch out for the cliff!! Now's the time for trained help to materialize.
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Post by kaijafon on Feb 3, 2017 18:14:32 GMT -6
oh my!!! I'm so scared for them!!! yikes! leaving us on a HUGE cliff!!!!
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Post by pbbrown0 on Feb 3, 2017 18:52:41 GMT -6
OUT OF THE STUMP Post # 13
When Jacob had shouted for them to get down, Beth had already decided these were not friendly pursuers. She was backing off on the distance to the SUV to give them a chance to get farther away from the pursuers, like a team mate blocking or picking off the pursuing opponent in a football or hockey game. She had seen in her mirrors when the head popped up over the roof of the pickup cab behind them and guessed what was likely to come next. As she ducked down hard with her hands on the steering wheel it naturally pulled the wheel to one side. As soon as she raised back up she began fighting to recover control. Beth managed to slow the truck before hitting any trees and turned back toward the road way in spite of the snow on the ground.
The truck behind Beth had sped on past pursuing her friends in the SUV up ahead., “Is anybody hurt?” Her question came through gritted teeth. Getting a negative response, she told her passengers. “There is a gun in the glove box and here is another.” She reached under the driver's seat an pulled a pistol out of a button release hard plastic holster Pete had installed long before. “Get familiar with them quick after you buckle up, tight.” The next thing Jacob and Josh knew, the truck was lurching forward as Beth was pressing the gas pedal and the truck's tire treads grabbed the rough ground beneath the snow. She was soon working the truck back up onto the road bed. Once she was on the road again she was pushing to increase her speed as fast as possible. The other truck with the shooter was closing the gap to her family and friends in the SUV, but Beth was now gaining on them at a faster pace. The risk to benefit ratios of going faster on the snow had just encountered a paradigm shift. Beth's husband and son were in the SUV being pursued by men shooting guns. The slumbering beast inside Mama Bear Beth was wide awake and focused now.
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The pickup chasing the SUV had three men inside. They had seen the two vehicles moving from house to house around town, and they watched from a distance. They saw when one had stopped at the house with the big family they had raided already, and later when the second vehicle moved in closer. They hung back as the team made multiple trips in and out of the house carrying the load of supplies and filling the back of the SUV and the pickup bed. They wondered where they were finding all that loot, since the three of them had already taken everything from that house that was of any value. The three men had stayed back out of sight waiting, having seen the lookouts watching from both vehicles as they loaded. The group did not appear to be carrying guns, but it was still safer to watch for the right opportunity. They did not want this prize to get away since everything these interlopers were taking should have already been in their own stockpile at the mansion. It was all going to work out for the best, though. They would follow these fools and take all their loot. When they came back with a big hall like this, it would make them heroes to the rest of their gang at the mansion. About a mile out of town the trailing truck must have spotted them, because it sped up to close the gap with the SUV and then slowed considerably a few seconds later.
It was time to make their move before the SUV with its load of loot got away. Hank climbed out through the sliding panel in the back window as Jimmy accelerated. Hank stood up and put one hand on top of the truck cab to steady his footing. He pulled a pistol out of his belt that he had found in a desk drawer at that big mansion back in the village. He knew less than he thought he knew about guns, but it was obvious to him that this one was expensive, so it must be good, right? In reality he had found Mr. Springfield's limited edition Kimber 1911 with match grade barrel and mirror polished finish. He held on to the top of the truck cab with one hand and reached over the top of the cab roof with his other hand holding the pistol as he aimed at the head of the driver of the pickup ahead. Hank popped off a quick double tap to make sure he hit his target. He had heard somewhere about that term 'double tap' as being a technique used by experienced shooters, so he wanted to be sure he was shooting like an expert would. He must have hit the driver because as soon as he could refocus the driver was slumped forward and the truck had swerved off the road. “I got him,” he shouted through the back window to his buddies. The truck ahead continued to veer off towards the woods as Hank's brother, Jimmy, accelerated their truck past it to catch up with the SUV carrying off more loot. They could come back later for those bags of stuff that were dumped into the pickup. As soon as they got close enough to the SUV he would be able to pop the next driver, too.
The SUV was starting to speed up, but Jimmy was sticking to them closing the gap now. That was a good thing because the cold wind was murder on Hanks eyes and ears. Hank couldn't see the driver through the dark glass in the back of the SUV. He decided to shoot out the back window so he could get a clearer shot. He fired twice, and the glass broke out, mostly. Now the SUV was slowing and they were getting closer fast. Hank was trying to see through the gap in the back window to get a shot off when Jimmy let off the gas and hit his brakes. Hank completely lost his aim. He leaned over and yelled at Jimmy through the window panel to hold it steady or he couldn't aim. Jimmy had eased back on the gas pedal just a bit more to hear what Hank was yelling at him, and the gap widened again. Jimmy sped up again to close the gap, and suddenly the SUV was turning off onto a side road. Jimmy braked again to try to make the turn. He was struggling to keep control with the thin layer of snow still on the road.
The wind was making Hanks eyes water too much. He could not even see the sights on his gun clearly. He decided to squint them closed for a couple of seconds and then open them quick and fire before the wind could irritate them again. When he opened his eyes to aim, the SUV which had slowed a lot began turning so he could no longer see the driver through the rear window. Jimmy was braking, too, to make the turn and Hank was holding on to keep his feet under him.
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Beth had been catching up and hoping the hoodlums were too focused on their pursuit to notice they were now being pursued. She was closing the distance quickly. As she got closer her mind was working to assess the situation. That is when she saw the shooter in the back fire on the back window of the SUV. She had to struggle to hold down her rage. Her family was in that SUV. Jacob rolled down the window to try and shoot at the attacker, but Beth stopped him. “You can't aim well enough while we are on the road with the wind in your face, but neither can they! Just hold on!”
She noticed that Liz was slowing down, then she saw the side road up ahead. She also saw when the truck ahead hit the brakes and swayed on the road. Now she had a plan. “Hold on real tight guys. Brace yourselves.” The hoodlums were closing on Liz and Liz kept slowing, but the they were too focused on catching up to see what Liz was planning or to see Beth coming up behind them. Liz was making the turn and the the predator truck was finally braking, realizing their quarry was trying to get off the road. Now the truck with the gunman was trying to slow enough to make the turn as well and the back end was starting to slide as the pursuers cut the front wheels to the side. Beth on the other hand had no intention of making that ninety degree turn. All she needed was slight angle and she started that farther back. Just as her tires were leaving the roadway she gave one last push on the gas pedal.
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As the back end of Jimmy's truck was swinging around at the end of the turn, he caught a hint of movement in his peripheral vision a quarter second before...”
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“Liz, stop! Beth nailed them!” Liz slowed to a stop and Jeff and Pete were out the door before she understood what had happened. Pete and Jeff ran to the hoodlums' truck with their guns ready to check on the two men inside. The driver was finished. Beth's truck had caved in the driver's door almost half way through the cab. They circled around to the passenger side. The passenger side window was shattered. The passengers head was bloody on the side where it had snapped into the window. Pete opened the door and dragged the unconscious man out. He checked him for weapons, then he started to check his pulse. Pete stopped when he saw the man's eyes. Jeff had already gone to check on his Mom and her passengers. They were all okay.
“Where is the shooter?” Josh and Jacob had climbed out of their pickup and were looking all around the truck but saw no sign of him. They widened their search and found him crumpled against a tree about fifty feet from the truck. With all of the attackers accounted for, Pete went back to his own truck that Beth had been driving.
He found Beth and they embraced each other in a bear hug that lasted quite a long while. Their truck was still running so eventually Pete climbed in and he backed it away from the other truck. It seemed to be okay. His was an older model heavy duty pickup with a very heavy duty bumper guard. It had crushed the side of the other truck with nothing more than scratches on Pete's bumper guard. Pete had Josh and Jacob search the cab of the wrecked truck and gather any weapons or ammunition they could find. He and Jeff scoured the field until they found the shooters gun.
Liz was standing beside Rose, surveying the scene and the rest of their team while the adrenaline tried to burn off. “What are we supposed to do, now, Rose?”
Rose took her hand and said quietly, “We go home, we make sure our families are all safe, then we say a prayer of thanks that we are all together and still alive.”
They decided to leave the damaged truck and its occupants where they found them. They were not exactly hidden but they were at least off the main road and several miles from the old farm house. Both of their own vehicles were still in fine shape other than missing some back window glass. They all climbed back in and headed toward the old farm house.
When they were in sight of the Van Hoosen House, they slowed and stopped well away from the turn off. They saw Doug emerge from behind some brush not to o far from them and on the house side of the road. He gave a thumbs up. Liz immediately jumped out and ran to him. After a moment they saw Michael appear from the trees, about a hundred yards past the drive on the side of the main road away from the house. He gave a thumbs up and began walking their way. Then Michael sensed that something had happened and picked up his pace in approaching the group. Finding out that there had been trouble but no one was hurt, he had them all drive down to the house to get out of sight from the road.
They decided with this big load that three trips would be better, so they left the large heavy bags of grain and such in the garage for the next trip. They had realized that the second stove inside the Van Ness kitchen was actually a fancy wood burning cook stove. Rose had insisted on loading that into the truck along with the grinders and other kitchen equipment, so that was also stashed in the garage. On the way back to the Haven while rotating who was pulling the sleds and who was getting a break, there was a lot of conversation about what had happened starting with Mr. Henderson. There was also a shared concern that the group needed to think through their precautions more carefully. As they talked they even decide that on the trek back to the Haven two who were not towing the sleds at any given time should be watching for possible threats. One would scout ahead, and the other would hang back while staying off the main path that the group had trampled in the snow. As they trudged on, Michael became absorbed in his thoughts about the need to become truly self sustaining rather than depending on scavenging to supplement the group's needs. They also needed to rethink the security watch method they were currently following.
When the scavenging team trickled back to the Haven the home group was excited about their return, but they became a bit confused. Liz showed up at the lodge, alone, and said the rest were a short distance behind. No one questioned that at first, and when the others arrived pulling the sleds, people gathered around to greet them and find out what they managed to acquire. They also noticed that the group had their guns out. That is when they started hearing about all the trouble. Jenny had noticed right away that Jeff had not come back and she silently gripped her mother's arm tightly. Doug saw that Jenny had suddenly turned very pale when the trouble was mentioned.
“Jenny, it's okay. Jeff is safe. He was just trailing behind to guard our backs.” Jenny was peering down the trail no longer listening to the tales of what had happened. Finally on seeing Jeff step out of the trees and onto their path, she raced toward him. Everyone turned to watch as she wrapped her arms around him in a crushing hug as soon as she reached him some distance down the trail. Jeff stood there a bit stunned at first, then gradually put his arms around her and returned her hug. When the two of them finally continued up the path to the lodge Jeff had one arm around her shoulders, and she had both arms still wrapped around his middle. No one heard what she said to him, or what he said to her. It was clear to everyone, however, that after this scavenging trip, perspectives would be changed on a number of issues. There would be plenty of material to sustain the evening conversations for a good while to come.
There was a lot of hard work being done in the late winter, while the weather was still rather cold. That meant their food requirements were staying quite high. They had found the additional food just in time to avoid rationing. Rationing was not only an issue for morale and health, it could possibly impact the level of energy they had in preparing for the year ahead. These and many inter-related issues were occupying the discussions in the evenings after the chores were done for the day.
For the rest of the day and the days that followed there were constant scattered conversations about the latest trip to town, as everyone kept busy taking care of the routine efforts to keep the Haven functioning and preparing it for what was ahead. For the moment a lot of effort was being given to create a sanitation system that was safe and which could effectively accommodate the larger number of people and animals for a more extended time. That required a lot of digging in the semi-frozen ground along with a significant volume of carpentry and stone work to properly isolate the area where the waste was being processed. There was also more digging needed to create an additional shallow well. The original well was only producing barely enough to keep up with the needs of the group, and they needed a better margin of capacity for that critical resource.
Somehow, in spite of the unorthodox design Michael proposed for the sanitation system, he was getting less push back and more problem solving discussion than he had expected. The deep pit outhouse arrangement they were using had been a common solution for a long time as a simple way to avoid the issue of disease without elaborate plumbing infrastructure. The problem with it is the need to periodically create a new pit or latrine to replace the old location. A more modern solution was to use a septic tank system. The primary problem he saw there was that septic systems were designed to only last a few years, after which a septic service company had to be called to empty it, so it could continued to be used. Michael pointed out to the group that finding a septic company willing to service this location in a few years might present a problem.
Michael's intention was to actually process the waste rather than merely hide it forever. They were already using the manure shoveled from the animal's shelters in the composting. The heat generated by the biological decomposition in the compost piles was enough to 'cook out' possible diseases before the composted material was used to fertilize the soil. The same process could be used to 'sanitize' the toilet waste as well if the system was designed and managed properly. They needed a design for flushing the waste into isolated drying fields. Once the human manure was dried, it could be added to the compost. When properly managed the compost processing would result in rich disease free humus that would enrich the soil. They just needed a method for flushing the waste to the drying fields, a method to divert the flow to an alternate field while one field was drying out, a method for managing the 'manure to composting' transition, and an effective schema for managing the potential bio-hazard until the process is complete. As Michael had expected, almost no one in their group had given much thought to this whole issue. It had been a hard enough mental skip for them to jump from a flush toilet to an outhouse. Several members of the group were not making any comments at all, while a few were surprisingly enthused about this super-green idea.
The biggest challenge seemed to be how to flush the waste from the privies to the drying field. Jacob and Pete finally worked out a plan. In scouting out places for planting the crops, they had discovered patched where they soil was very dense clay. These were not good places for planting, but they were confident that they could use the clay to create some fired clay pipe. Actually, it was going to be more like some ceramic troughs with caps over the tops, running down hill from the outhouses to the drying fields. With the caps they would be able to bury the pipes or troughs to avoid problems of freezing in cold weather. The removable caps over the troughs would also allow for easier maintenance when necessary. They still needed to pick a workable location for the fields and so forth, but the idea of creating their own pipe had 'fired up' their enthusiasm.
This little community was now living in a special corner of the world that was so very different from anything they had know before. Their world had changed in many ways. The lights in the evening were quite dim, when compared to the bright house lights they had taken for granted for years. Without electricity their light after sundown came only from candles, oil lamps, and a fireplace. The white noise from central heating and air conditioning fans, washers, dryers, and dishwashers was no longer present to muddle their hearing. There were not even the distant noises of traffic, trains, or airplanes for their brains to filter out. There was no television or streaming music filling the gaps in their conversations. All of these changes conspired to alter more than the work routines they were adopting. Their conversations after sundown were quieter and more subdued in spite of the newly intensified challenges of trying to simply survive. Once the children were a sleep the adults softened their voices which only added to the calming ambiance of the lodge.
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