Not Dead in the Heart of Dixie (106 page)

3:30 PM...

It's difficult to get over here
in my spot and fire this thing up with all the action going on in the room. It wouldn't surprise me a bit if someone trips on the cord and yanks it outa my hand. I'll try to write out what I've learned, but I 'm sure I'll get interrupted, so bear with me.

Josie and I ate lunch together over paper bowls of chicken corn chowder. Nana and Emma really got smart this time. They made the chowder and stored it in gallon freezer bags they placed in a cooler full of ice. All they had to do was dump the chowder into the pots and warm it up. Cornbread muffins came with it. They were also premixed.

Anyway, Chris announced before lunch that the bombs have, indeed, been dropped and our Hill was probably covered in poison.

HDI's are dropping like flies. Some of them take longer than others to completely die.

Insects, wild animals and stray pets are dying in massive numbers.

Home base sent out a HAZMAT team to determine the level of destruction. They're dressed in full protective gear
and riding in a fully enclosed vehicle. Several cameras are attached to the vehicle, and home base is receiving images.

The level of poison in the air was greatest five minutes after the bomb was dropped, and the level is dropping faster than expected.

The experts believe any significant amount of poison will be gone within twelve hours of delivery. They have changed their recommendation to shelter underground from 48 hours to 24 hours.

The bomb was dropped in our area at 0411 Zulu which means 10:11 PM Central time for those of us who don't speak “
Zulu.”

We're having a meeting after supper tonight to decide when we should leave the tunnel.

Jeremy's crew says they're all okay and wouldn't mind getting themselves and the horses out of there as soon as possible.

I'm nervous. I don't wanna leave the tunnel room at 10:00 tonight. I'm hoping we can all agree to stay the 48 hours recommended on the first go round.

We could leave the tunnel late tomorrow night and go straight inside the houses and motorhomes. I hope Chris will agree to it.

Regardless of what he says, my family's staying here 'til tomorrow night.

There's a kid fight breaking out and I need to get up and get them under control. I'll write after the meeting.

See ya later

10:00 PM...

Chris is preparing to leave the tunnel room. Several soldiers are heading out as well.

Josie told Chris that she's staying until tomorrow night because of the baby. She doesn't want to take any chances. Tricia will be staying with her. 

My entire family will stay until tomorrow night. We're all doing well, we have plenty of food and water, the potty barrel isn't full, and the air filtration is working.

The rest of the group will stay as well. That makes me happy. People may think I'm overprotective but I don't care.

I can't believe we made it through, again. God loves Kapper Hill. That's for sure!

Josie says that, according to the click codes, rain is expected overnight and throughout the day tomorrow. The experts say this
will help clear the air of any residual matter. They’re fully confident that the air is safe.

We have been instructed to clear
our areas of HDI's and dead animals as soon as possible. All bodies should be burned, and animals should not be consumed. HAZMAT crews will begin touring the Southeast tomorrow morning and report their findings to home base.

Jeremy's crew has decided to leave the cave. They'll wear their gas masks
, but they want to get outa there.

Their loading
up the horses and pigs and coming home tonight.

That makes me nervous as all get out, but they're adults and I can't tell them what to do. The animals belong to all of us and I was the only one opposed. So, they're coming home.

I'm exhausted. The adrenaline rush has left my body and I feel like I could sleep for days. Honestly, I can't believe I'm surprised we didn't die. I should've had more faith than that.

I'm gonna put this thing away and snuggle up in Mick's arms.

Bye for now.

Wednesday
, May 21

The remaining soldiers left the tunnel before breakfast.

Chris came inside to prove to us that he was okay. Josie threw her arms around his neck, took Tricia's hand, and headed out.

We were eating biscuits when everyone began turning on me.

They want out of here before lunch. I compromised and told them I'd agree to leave early if we waited 'til after lunch. I got a round of applause for giving in. I don't like it, but I've been outvoted.

Jeremy came in for breakfast. The horses and pigs are doing fine. He's says he's “good to go.” He slept in his little house last night and said it felt great to be in his own bed without worrying about a cave ceiling
falling on his head or acid raining down from above.

Monty and Jack still plan to expand and improve the filtration system in case we need to take shelter here again. Better safe than sorry, right?

My gut tells me that we'll use this tunnel room again. I'm glad that all the supports are up and that we did everything we could to survive.

I just saw Ian and Shawna walk out the door.

Oh, My God. Thank you for saving us!

Well, it's time to make lunch, clean up, and pack up to head back to the house. We'll be spending a lot of time today
, moving supplies back to the house.

See ya later.

9:00 PM...

We're out of the tunnel and I'm sitting on my own bed. My husband is beside me, waiting for me to finish up this entry.

We made it.

We lived.

I'm praying that we’ll find the garden
healthy and alive. I'm praying that every HDI in the area has fallen down, dead.

We have a
trade meeting scheduled in five days with the folks from Times Nine Farm. Chris says that a couple of other groups will be there as well. I'm anxious to meet them and get this party started.

Hopefully, we can all help one another in our quest to rebuild while this tyrant tries to take away every right we have.

Those rights were fought and paid for by the American blood of all the men and women who believed in us before, and those who believe in us now. We owe it to them to survive.

I’m head
ed to bed to snuggle up with Mick and try to get some sleep.

Bye for Now

Thursday May 22

             
I felt a tingle of fear go through my body as I opened the kitchen door this morning. It took every ounce of courage I had to step out on the back porch and breathe in the morning air.

The only sound I heard was the rustling of the leaves as the light breeze blew through them.
Heavy dew had pooled on the stairs and porch railing.

I kept waiting for my skin to burn and my body to go into convulsions, but it didn’t happen. Thank you, Lord!

Chris and the experts have assured us that the poison has dissipated and we have nothing to worry about. The same folks once told us there was no such thing as the living dead. Do I have complete confidence in the experts? I don’t think so.

The mood around the kitchen table was
light and happy until Chris reminded us that the poison was dropped only in one tiny spot of the world. HDI’s, wild people, and mutant flies still exist.

Faces around the table went from happy and smiling
, to sullen and somber.

I wonder
how long it’ll take the HDI’s to come back to Kapper Hill Compound. I’m praying we’ll have the summer to concentrate on growing crops, preserving food, and avoiding the fake military.

The entire group stepped out on the porch with me.
We were all headed to the same place. We were going to the garden.

The vegeta
tion we saw on our short journey looked fine. Nothing was wilted or odd colored. Everything was awake and reaching for the sun. From what I could tell, there was no residue on any leaves or wildflowers.

I saw several
dead birds that looked as if they’d simply dropped from the sky. Amber spotted two baby birds at the base of a tree and she almost touched them. She stuck out her hand, and then pulled it quickly back. We didn’t need to say a word. She understands.

We made it to the garden and were relieved to see the plastic covering
our future food still in place.

Pop recruited help from everyone there
. We removed the plastic from the rows and rolled it up to save for another time. I swear, I could see our crops stretch and yawn as they reached for the sky and breathed fresh air. I was beyond relieved and so was everyone else.

There were no gnats or flies in the garden.

There were no bees, or anything else with wings, to aid in pollinating the vegetable blossoms.

Pop looked worried as he glanced around the field. I knew
what he was thinking. We need to get back to the little specialty shop where the see-through bee hives are located and find out if any of them survived. We need to bring them here as soon as possible.

Pop announced to the crowd that our crop yield would be small and eventually die out if we don’t get bees here soon. He said we
could
pollinate everything by hand, but we’d need several folks in the garden, working day in and day out.

Standing in the hot Alabama sun in July and August for eight or nine hours a day? No thanks. My ancestors did it, but I don’t want to
, unless I have no choice.

Dane and Jason immediately formed a “bee getting crew” and headed to town wearing beekeeper suits. I pray they come back with living bees

Everyone left the garden to head back to the house or check out other areas of the compound. I came in here to write.

I’m getting tired. It seems like I’m never able to write anything wonderful without following it up with some sort of new threat or problem.

Will the problems never go away? I’d love to go back to the days of making sure the mortgage was paid and the electricity stayed on. I miss paying bills, buying groceries, and putting gas in my car. I never thought I’d hear myself say that.

Well, there’s a lot of work going on. We need to get everything moved back from the tunnel rooms.

See ya later.

2:35 PM…

             
We have wild animals in the form of human children.

             
Amber, Michael, Vicki, Dale, and Tricia are running around the back yard, hootin’ and hollerin’ like banshees. They’re happy to be out of the tunnel rooms. I believe they can feel that the fear among the adult members of the group has somewhat diminished. They’re playing like children
should
be able to play.

             
Chris, Mick Ian, and Rick headed out with several guards this afternoon to check on the HDI’s in the rock quarry. They were armed for bear in case the wild people somehow survived and decided to attack. They were home within an hour.

             
Mick says that the bottom of the rock quarry is a lake of HDI bodies.

Many of them are melted, and the fluids are pooled on top. Hundreds of air bubbles rise to the surface and burst as fluids run down to fill the cavities underneath.

He said it reminds him of a hot lava field because the fluids are thick and draining slowly, HDI bodies adjust as the air bubbles rise, and it appears as if they are wriggling in slow motion as gravity takes hold. The air is filled with horrible smells and the sounds of bubbles popping,

They found the bodies of three wild people underneath the trees. Their eyes were open and their arms outreached. The smallest female appeared to have been crawling toward a larger female who was lying at the base of a pine tree. Her head and neck were resting in a distorted position, broken by the fall. Their bodies were showing signs of rapid deterioration and decay. Mick
said he almost thought he saw decay happening as he watched.

The crew walked farther into the woods and came across the bodies of several dead animals who looked as if they’d simply stopped in their tracks and fallen over dead.

They came upon an old, rusted out washing machine lying on its side near a pile of garbage someone dumped in the woods. There was a tabby cat with three dead kittens lying inside. That was enough for Chris, and he turned and ordered everyone back to the vehicles. No one said a word as they traveled back to the compound.

Mick says he never wants to see that place again.

Dane, Jason and a few others went back to the specialty store. The little “bee doors” through the wall leading outside were plugged with dead and dying bees.