Kiamichi Refuge (3 page)

“I wonder how far we walked today. My leg muscles hurt,” Valerie moaned.

Sarah laughed. “If you didn’t sit at a desk all day, crunching numbers, you wouldn’t be so sore now.”

“What’s for dinner?” Jen’s tummy growled as if on cue. “I’m getting hungry.”

Erin snorted. “You’re always hungry. I planned to make my world-famous rigatoni tonight, but I’m beat. The little deli in the grocery store has great pizza. How’s that sound?”

Sarah raised her hand. “I volunteer to go get it, if someone will go with me. Pizza sounds great.”

“I’ll go with you.” Valerie stood up and poked Sarah playfully. “You might get lost without my unerring sense of direction.”

“While you’re gone, we’ll throw a salad together. Come on, Jen. You can cut up the tomatoes and mushrooms.”

While the others were gone, Erin and Jen chatted about mutual acquaintances and made a big bowl of greens, tomatoes, mushrooms, radishes, carrot slices, red cabbage, boiled eggs, and croutons. Jen caught Erin up on the latest antics of the “Martin Menaces,” Jen’s younger brothers David and Price. They were only a year apart in age, and were infamous for their pranks. They were students at Northeastern State University in Tahlequah, and would be returning home for the summer in a few weeks.

Valerie and Sarah made it back with the pizzas, and the aroma made them all eager to dig in. They laughed and talked until after midnight, then went to bed exhausted, but happy.

The next two days flew by. Erin and her friends visited a few of the antique shops in the tiny town, drove around the area a bit to admire the scenery, and talked almost non-stop. Then on Sunday afternoon, Erin stood on the front porch, waving goodbye as her guests drove away, headed back to Tulsa.

So what do I do now?
Erin wondered.
I’m almost finished with Uncle Ernie’s book and the lodge is clean. Wandering around in the forest alone might not be a good idea, with spring starting. I don’t want to become dinner for a bear or a big cat. I know something I can do. I’ll find out more about the local fauna and their habits. Not knowing could be dangerous.

Erin filled her days with research about the area. Everything she found led her to something else, so she wound up learning about how black bears were migrating into Oklahoma from the Ozark Mountains in Arkansas, increasing the bear population in the Kiamichis.  She discovered that the Kiamichis were part of the Ouachita Range and were believed to be older than the Rockies. She read about the settlement of the Kiamichis by the Choctaw people, and also found out that the Choctaw nation had been the first of the Five Civilized Tribes to be forced onto a Trail of Tears, and that the tribe had provided code-talkers for the European Theater in World War II.

She measured the windows and ordered some colorful curtains for the lodge, then rearranged the furniture downstairs. She cleaned out a small flowerbed in front of the house. She also spent some time in town, getting to know a few of the locals, but she finally realized that she was experiencing a strange restlessness. Something was nagging at her mind, some little hint of a memory that she just could not quite pin down, causing a feeling of disquiet.

Waking up early one morning, Erin decided to sweep the patio and clean up the old glass-topped table behind the house. The leaves that had fallen months ago were damp and smelled moldy as she swept them up with an old broom that she found in the mudroom.

When she stopped to survey her work, the puzzle of why the house abutted the mountain came back into her consciousness. She had forgotten about it, but suddenly, the question that had hidden deep in her mind came rushing back: why in the world would they build right up against the rock wall of the mountain?

Hurrying into the lodge, Erin examined the back wall of the mudroom. The washer and dryer were against that wall, and nothing appeared to be at all unusual about the room. Going through the kitchen, she opened the door to the walk-in pantry. Wooden shelving lined the walls.

“Well,” Erin muttered to herself, “There’s not much in here, other than what I just bought. It’s funny. Uncle Ernie was supposed to be a prepper, but this pantry sure doesn’t prove it. Let’s see. There’s a canner, a dehydrator, some Mason jars, a pressure cooker, a Crockpot. A few cans of veggies, a bag of macaroni.” Erin made a mental inventory of the various items as she searched the room. Leaning down and reaching toward the rear of a low shelf on the back wall, she pulled out an old box of cereal, but something else caught her attention. Just under the shelf was a metal latch. Erin slid the handle to the left, and the whole shelving unit moved a few inches toward her.

“What have we here?” she mumbled as a cool draft of dusty air wafted through the opening. Erin pulled the shelf further out, and saw a tall, narrow tunnel. Glancing down at the wooden shelving, she realized that the unit had hidden casters that allowed the shelves to move easily. The left side was on hinges that were firmly bolted to a steel bar, which in turn was bolted to the rock of the tunnel. The right side of the shelves swung out like a door. Stepping through the opening, Erin could see two large latches on the back of the shelves, which, she supposed, would allow someone to hide in the tunnel by locking the opening from the inside. Lower down, she could see that the smaller latch could also be opened from the inside, so a person could not be locked in.
Clever,
she thought.

Erin peered into the depths of the tunnel. It grew darker further in, where the light from the pantry could not reach.
I’ll need a flashlight for that.

Studying the walls and floor of the tunnel, Erin noticed a difference between the lower section of the walls and the upper part, from about four feet up. The lower area seemed more natural, while the higher section showed marks from some type of tool. Supports reinforced the walls and the ceiling, which also looked manmade.

Then it hit her: what she had been thinking of as a tunnel was actually a cave, one that had been enlarged to allow for easier access. Someone had wanted to be able to walk upright through this, so there must be a reason.

“I have a flashlight, but no spare batteries, and I’m talking to myself again. I guess further exploration will have to wait until I can go to town.  There is no way am I going into that black hole without a good light
and
a backup light. Nope. Not going to happen. Being stuck in total darkness is not my idea of a fun time.”

***

As the sun’s rays shot golden yellow across the sky the next morning, Erin rinsed her breakfast dishes and dried her hands. She grabbed a light jacket and her keys, and went to town. She bought three new flashlights and several packages of rechargeable batteries at a small hardware store. At the grocery store, she found candles, and bought a dozen, along with a box of matches.

Early April

Armed with her old flashlight, plus a new flashlight and spare batteries, Erin took a deep breath and stepped through the opening to the cave.
As Uncle Ernie used to say, one is none, two is one,
she thought. She almost took a candle and matches, too, but chided herself for being ridiculous.

The air in the tunnel smelled fresher, perhaps from having the entrance open the day before. The quiet in the tunnel was broken only by the faintly echoing sounds that Erin made as she switched on her light and edged forward.

Curving gradually to the right, the cave went back about fifty feet, before it widened suddenly and sloped downward. Erin pointed her light down the slope, and saw a faint reflection ahead. A few more steps, and she found herself in a large cavern.

It was difficult to judge the size accurately by flashlight, but the strong beam barely illuminated the far wall. Incredibly, the cavern was far from empty. Shelves, made from stout 4x4s and thick plywood, lined the left side and were loaded with large plastic tubs. Dozens of five-gallon buckets were stacked to the right. More buckets, plus small metal boxes and long, cylindrical containers filled the middle.

Erin’s eyes grew large as she took in the enormity of what was undeniably her uncle’s survival cache.
Well, one of them, anyway,
she mentally corrected.

As her beam skimmed around the room, she noticed a large white envelope taped prominently to a big red bucket. On the envelope, written in blue marker, were large block letters that spelled out “ERIN”.

Ripping the envelope from the bucket, she opened it and pulled out papers covered in her beloved uncle’s handwriting.

Dear Erin,

Well, you found it.  I figured it might take you a few weeks, but you would eventually figure out that there was something odd about the pantry.

I always thought that you were humoring me whenever we talked about prepping, but I was always quite serious. That’s the real reason I bought the lodge. I knew that if I was not around to help you, you would need supplies and a safe place to take refuge when the brown stuff hits the fan.

Notice that I said, “when”, not “if.” Few people live an entire lifetime without some type of disaster taking place, and I saw too many signs of serious trouble brewing to believe that the future would be smooth sailing.

I don’t know if it will be war, or a pandemic, or an economic collapse. I guess it could be an alien invasion or a zombie outbreak, although those are unlikely. It could be a natural disaster or some type of social upheaval.

But if I had to bet on it, I would say that the problems that are coming will be manmade, courtesy of the government, either ours or someone else’s. Probably some combination of stupid decisions by bureaucrats, but trouble is coming, and that’s a fact.

Enclosed you will find a map of the cave, at least the part that I was able to explore. Even a rat is smart enough to have an alternate escape route, so yes, there is another entrance. You need to familiarize yourself with the way in and out, and learn as much as you can about the area, just in case. There is a portion of the cave, toward the west, which I didn’t get a chance to explore. You should do that, and add the additional caves to the map. Hopefully, there is a third entrance somewhere.

There is also a list of all the hidey-holes where weapons are stashed in the lodge. If you ever need one, you will need it in a hurry, so learn where each one is. There are phony books, hollow lamp bases, and decorative shelves with hidden compartments in every room, all containing a gun or two. The headboards of the downstairs bedrooms have guns in them, too. Just press on the bottom of the headboard and it will pop open and drop a rifle into your hands. All of the guns are loaded, because an unloaded gun is no better than a rock as a weapon.

I have not had the opportunity to meet all of the neighbors, but I do know the McCoy family and the Fosters. The McCoys live in a little house about ¾ of a mile northwest of the lodge. Mac is a trucker, and looks like a Hell’s Angel, but he’s a good man. His wife is Claire, and she is really sweet. They have a little red-haired girl, Kyra, who is the cutest kid around. Get to know them. They have skills that could be very useful. Help them if things get rough. They’ve been good to me since I got sick.

The Fosters are a family I know from church, solid people who will probably contact you soon, if they haven’t already. The McNeils are old friends of mine, and they live close to the north end of the property. There is no one I trust more.

You can also rely on Kenneth Abbott, the preacher in town. He and his wife, Terri, can be depended on if you need advice or help.

Be careful who you talk to beyond those I mentioned. There are some fine people in town, and some really shady characters. I think that Richie Baxter, the pharmacist, and Shane Ramsey, who teaches martial arts, are okay, as is Lydia Clark, but I don’t know them as well, so exercise caution. There is something about Deputy Kline that strikes me as being off. He’s an arrogant jerk, and sneaky, if you ask me, but he’s the law in this section of the county.

There are also some parolees around town. They’re bad dudes, for the most part. Stay as far away from them as possible. I guess you know that a lot of marijuana is being grown in these woods. Don’t go wondering around in the forest by yourself.

The supplies in this cavern were prepared specifically for you. There are tubs of clothing, and sturdy boots and shoes, and plenty of food to last for quite a while, plus guns and ammo, first aid supplies, and things like soap and shampoo. There may be others who come here for safety, so I got a several tubs full of fabric, and some patterns for simple clothing in various sizes. I hope someone knows how to sew on a treadle machine.

I hired an out-of-state crew to enlarge the tunnels and put in supports so they won’t cave in. There is only one person locally who knows about the pantry entrance, and he will reveal himself when he decides the time is right.

A few more things you need to know: the windows in the lodge are polycarbonate, and will withstand small arms fire. The doors have a solid steel core overlaid with wood veneer, and the door-frames are also steel. If someone shoots a rocket at the lodge, you’re in trouble, but anything less, and you should be okay. The back of the shelf that serves as the door to the caves is thick, high-carbon steel.

There are dozens of big flowerpots and several bags of potting soil on the deck. There are seed packets in one of the big tubs, for every type of veggie imaginable, and also some seeds for fruit trees. You’ve always had a green thumb, so use it. You will have to grow your plants on the deck, because even if the ground was not so rocky, a garden in the yard would just feed the wildlife. Up on the deck, the deer, rabbits, and other critters won’t be able to get to your plants, and they will also get more sun up there.

Keep the papers in this packet secure and hidden. Your safety depends on it. Learn as much as you can, and use your head. There are books that you can refer to for most things that you may need to know how to do. They are in one of the tubs. Don’t wait until you need to know something. Start learning now.

There will be some money coming in from my books. I strongly advise you to use that money to buy gold and silver. When things go down, paper money will be worthless.

You have good instincts, so don’t second-guess yourself. I have faith in you and in the Lord, Who will watch over you always.

Keep an eye and an ear on the news, and pay attention to what is going on. You are smart enough to know when to batten down the hatches. May God keep you, Erin.

All my love,

Uncle Ernie

Erin glanced at the other papers in the packet, noting an inventory list, a list of where guns were stashed in the lodge, and the map. The cave evidently continued toward the east on the far side of the cavern, and the map indicated a smaller cavern further in. It also showed another cave that branched off from the northwest corner of the big cavern, going west for a short distance and ending with a question mark.

Interesting,
Erin mused.
I really don’t want to investigate this by myself. What if I get hurt or lost, and nobody can find me? But Uncle Ernie always said not to tell people about prepping secrets. No one can go with me to see the caves without going through the cavern and seeing all the supplies. I guess I may have to go it alone, but I don’t like the idea at all.