Kiamichi Refuge (13 page)

Late July

Storing the new supplies under beds and wherever they could find space, they got the truck unloaded in a fairly short time. They had gotten quite a lot from Ernie’s basement, but there was a lot more that they needed to get.

Erin seemed pensive that afternoon, and Tanner finally asked her why.

“I was just thinking. We have friends in town and we haven’t checked in with them in almost a week. I am ashamed to say that I didn’t think to drive by the Abbotts’ house today while we were in town. I was too excited about trying to find Uncle Ernie’s other cache. I haven’t even talked to Lydia lately. And then there’s Gus. I don’t know him well, but I like him. Could we try to find out how they’re doing next time we go into town?”

“Of course. I need to see about Shane, too. I haven’t worried about him because he can defend himself, but with the power and water off, he might need some help.”

“Shane? Who’s Shane?”

“Oh, I thought you’d met him. He’s a martial arts instructor. American kenpo, which he affectionately calls ‘break-a-head, break-a-leg karate.’ He held classes here and also went to McAlester twice a week to teach there. I guess that’s over now. I hope he’s in Kanichi Springs, not McAlester. He’s a seriously tough guy, but things are bad there,” Tanner explained.

“Okay, so when do we go back to get the rest of the stuff from Uncle Ernie’s basement? I’ll call the Abbotts and see if they need anything.”

“You can try to call, but don’t be surprised or concerned if they don’t answer. Our phones are still working okay, but we have solar power to recharge them. The Abbotts may not have a way to charge theirs. Let’s go back to town tomorrow.”

***

Terri Abbott did answer her phone. She explained to Erin that Ernie had given them a combination solar/crank charger for Christmas.

“We’re running low on food, but the worst problem is lack of water that’s fit to drink. We’ve been putting a little bit of Clorox in rainwater that we caught in some barrels, but I’m worried. We’re almost out of bleach, and if it doesn’t rain again soon, we’ll be out of water.”

“We’ll bring you some LifeStraws and some food tomorrow. You can drink out of a pond with one of those. I hope you know that you can come stay at the lodge if things get too rough.”

“Thanks, but Ken feels that we need to stay here and help folks if we can. We have some of the elderly people from town, and a few families with small children staying in the fellowship hall. We’ll see you tomorrow, Erin.”

***

The next morning, when they turned onto the street in front of Ernie’s house, Tanner spotted a small figure darting out the side gate. The figure ran across the street and down the sidewalk. Tanner jumped out of the truck and chased after the fugitive. His long legs caught up with the urchin halfway down the block.

“Micah? What were you doing at Ernie’s?” Tanner demanded.

“I was just looking for food and medicine for Gus. He’s hurt, and I’m taking care of him.”

“Where are your foster parents?”

“Dead,” the youngster hung his head and blinked back tears. “They got sick, bad sick. They ate some fish and I think it was spoiled. I didn’t eat any, ‘cause I don’t like fish and there was still peanut butter. They died, so I went to stay with Gus.”

“What’s wrong with Gus? And where is he?” Tanner insisted.

“He’s at his shop. He fell and I think his arm is broke. I’m not sure, but it’s hurting and I wanted to find some medicine for him.” Micah wrapped his arms across his stomach. “I didn’t think it would be stealin’ since Mr. Ernie is dead.”

“Okay. We’ll find something for the pain. You take it to Gus, and stay with him. We’ll come to the shop and check on you in a while.”

Tanner led Micah back to Ernie’s, and explained to Erin that Gus needed medicine for pain. Erin ran into the house and got a bottle of pain pills from Ernie’s stash. She instructed Micah to give Gus one tablet every four hours if he needed it, then sent him off to take care of his friend.

“I kept him out here so he wouldn’t see the entry to the basement,” Tanner explained.

“I figured as much. Let’s go help get this truck loaded up, then we’ll drop some supplies off at the Abbotts’ and head over to check on Gus.”

***

Ken Abbott saw the truck pull up in front of their house, and came out to meet them. He looked gaunt, having obviously lost several pounds. Erin had set aside food and other supplies to give them, but Ken was most excited to get the LifeStraws.

“Now, what are your plans, Ken? You know that you’re welcome out at the lodge.” 

“Thanks, but we are going to stay in town for now. We’re helping people who need assistance; in fact, the fellowship hall is almost full of elderly folks and single women who are afraid to stay in their homes. We have a few families here, too. Being together will make it easier for all of us. Safer, too. There are only a few men still around, and they’re here, too. Most of the single men and men with families left town already. I hope they’re okay. We appreciate the help and the offer, but we’ll be fine.”

“I’ve been doing some hunting lately. I guess deer season is now open year round, since there’s no law enforcement in sight. I’ll try to get a deer or a wild hog for you so you can feed all those people.”

“Thanks, Tanner. It would be a huge help. Thankfully, there are a couple of gardeners staying here, and we are still getting some veggies out of their gardens. Pray for enough rain to keep things growing, and we’ll have fruit to eat later, too. There are peach and apple trees in town. Maybe plums, too, I hope. Come by and check on us any time.”

“We will,” Erin promised. “And I brought you a radio, so when the cell phones quit working, we can maybe stay in touch. We’ll probably have to climb to the top of my mountain to get good reception, but it’s better than nothing.”

***

When they got to the mechanic shop, Ian parked the truck, and waved at Micah, who was watching for them out the front window and ran over to unlock the door.

“Gus took a pill, and he’s asleep now. Can you look at his arm? He’s been hurtin’ bad,” Micah pleaded. The boy led them into the back room and up the stairs to a storage loft. Gus lay on a pallet of old blankets, sound asleep.

Tanner examined the arm that Micah indicated, and feeling the shoulder, gave a sigh of relief.

“It’s not broken. The shoulder is dislocated. Ian, hold him on the other side, and I’ll pop it back into place. It’s a good thing he’s out, because this is going to hurt. He’ll be sore for a few days, but he’ll be fine.”

Gus stirred, then woke from the sharp pain of Tanner’s efforts, but smiled a bit and said, “Ah, that’s better,” before drifting off again.

“Micah, we need you to stay here with Gus for now. We have a full load in the truck, and no room to take you with us this trip, but we’ll come back and get you. You can both come stay out at my place. Stick close to Gus and don’t be wandering off anywhere. We can’t spend time or gas hunting you down, okay?” Erin urged.

“Okay, but do you have any food or water? We get awful thirsty.”

Erin nodded to Ian, who ran out to the truck to get the requested items.

Tanner took Micah by the shoulders and looked him in the eye. “Now listen to me, Micah. Stay inside, away from the windows. Don’t turn on any flashlights or light any candles after dark. Some bad men escaped from the prison, and they might come this way. We’ll be back tomorrow and get you two to a better place, where there’s food and water, and people to keep you safe. Just be really careful.”

Micah nodded solemnly and promised to stay with Gus. He looked scared, but determined to take care of his friend. At only twelve years of age, Micah was already starting to learn how to be a man.

***

Early the next morning, Tanner, Ian, and Erin piled into the delivery truck and headed back to town. They planned to make one final stop by Ernie’s house to get the last of the cache and grab anything useful from the main floor of the house.

“Okay, look for sheets, blankets, pillows, towels, shoes, jackets. Keep a lookout for flashlights, batteries, and guns, too. Grab anything that looks useful,” Erin reminded them.

Just as he had done at the lodge, Ernie had hidden numerous weapons in devious places around the house. Since Erin was familiar with the hidey-holes around the lodge, she looked for similar secret places, and found several. After about thirty minutes, they had gathered all the things that they could use, including the mattresses. Erin laid one mattress down for Gus and Micah to use on the way to the lodge, so they wouldn’t get bruised up like she and Sarah had. Ian used ratchet straps to secure the load so it wouldn’t fall, and had just started to close the back of the truck so they could go pick up their passengers at Gus’s shop.

Erin had one foot raised to step into the truck when she suddenly froze. “Listen,” she warned. “Do you hear it?”

“That’s a motor, sounds like it’s over on the next street. And it’s coming this way,” Ian exclaimed, holding the door and motioning for the girls to climb up. “Get in!”

Tanner got the truck started and drove toward the parking lot behind Lydia’s shop. They locked the back of the truck, then Erin opened the back door of the shop with the key Lydia had given her. They slipped inside and began filling bags with essential oils, shampoo, lotions, candles, and disposable razors.

Ian jogged across the street and tapped on the door of Gus’s shop. Gus was awake and had climbed down from the loft with Micah. He looked much better than he had the day before, but still favored his sore shoulder. Ian led them to the back room.

“There’s somebody in town with the gas to drive around in a vehicle. It could be local folks, but it could be escapees, so we need to lie low until they’re gone,” Ian warned. “I’m going to stay out of sight, but take a peek out the front window and see if I can see anything. Stay here.”

Ian slipped into the front section of the shop, staying low against the wall. He could hear loud voices as he got closer to the big overhead door, then he heard glass shattering. Taking a quick peek out the window, he saw several men across the street, breaking the windows of the liquor store.

Tanner and Erin also heard the commotion outside, and hastily ducked into the back room of Lydia’s shop. They were trapped by the looters out front, and also by the fact that there were no windows in the back, so they couldn’t see if it was safe to go out that way. From the voices they heard, they were also greatly outnumbered by whoever was outside.

Suddenly, Micah materialized beside them, grinning.

“Where’d you come from?” Erin squeaked, dropping the bags she was carrying.

“If you want out of here, follow me,” he whispered, then led them to a narrow door in the corner of Lydia’s back room, behind stacks of boxes.

“Come on, but watch your step,” Micah murmured as he descended the stairs. He turned on a flashlight and guided them across a damp, musty basement to another door. “I found this when I was out looking for food. There’s a tunnel that goes under the street to the empty building next to Gus’s. He told me that these buildings are real old, and the man who built them put this tunnel in because he was a bootlegger, whatever that is.”

At the end of the tunnel, they climbed a steep flight of rickety stairs, and emerged in the back room of the abandoned building. Sneaking a look across the street, Tanner patted Micah on the back.

“Kid, you just saved us. They’re inside Lydia’s shop now. Thanks for the rescue.”

“We can go out the back and get to Gus,” Micah decided. “He’s probably wondering if we made it out.”

Gus and Ian were relieved to see them, but concerned about where the bad guys would go next.

“There’s at least a dozen of them, and I recognized two. Ollie Simmons and that little guy Weasel who follows him around. It’s a good bet that all of those thugs are from the prison, since they’re with Ollie. I think we should wait until they get done with their looting, then sneak over there and get out of town. I hate to leave the townspeople at the mercy of those hoodlums, but we can’t fight them all right now.”

“Let me see if I can get Ken on the radio and let him know so he can warn folks. I think most people are in the church building already.” Erin paused for a few seconds. “Are we safer here, or should we go to the empty building next door?”

She left it to the guys to decide the answer to that, and stepped away to try to contact Ken.

The radio signal was weak, probably because they were inside a rock building, but Ken answered. As Erin described the scene downtown, he stopped her and she could hear him directing others to warn everyone about the convicts in town.

“Erin, I need to go. Thank you for warning us. Be safe, sister,” and he was gone.

Erin stepped back over to the others and told them that she had gotten through. “So, are we staying here?”

“We should go next door. I’ve never liked that Ollie, and he knows it. When he was on trial the first time, I testified against him, so he hates me, and he might bust in here to get his revenge. He might even try to burn the place down, so we better go,” Gus replied.