Not Dead in the Heart of Dixie (44 page)

They came across a small farm about three miles from the prison and killed the entire family except for a teenage girl. They raped and abused her for several days before killing her by throwing her from a horse into a small group of HDI's. The horses came from that small farm along with saddles and
tack from the barn.

The whiskey bottle made several rounds before it was emptied and tossed into the woods. One of the men pulled a full bottle from a backpack he'd been leaning against and
began passing it around while they all joked and laughed about the survivor group they'd killed for food and the clothes they were wearing.

It wasn't long before the prisoners
were drunk and began arguing over who would ride the horses and who would be walking the next day.

They never mentioned where they were headed.

Jason decided it was time to creep back through the woods and hope the group would move on the next morning, taking themselves and their hangovers away from the area.

He headed back the way he'd come and ran smack dab into two HDI's that had been drawn to the
light from the fire and the loud voices of the prisoners arguing.

The HDI's were only ten feet away from Jason and moving fast. The sound of their howling, snarling, and gurgling rose greatly in volume when they began rushing toward him. He had no choice. He had to shoot.

Jason used his pistol to take both of them out. They hit the ground for good and Jason turned to find three prisoners aiming pistols straight toward him. "Who the hell are you and what are you doin' here?" one of them asked. Jason was about to answer with a lame excuse that he was traveling alone, looking for food, when Jesse called out from the edge of the meadow. That was all it took.

One of the prisoners fired as Jason ducked and sprinted through the trees, zigging and zagging with armed prisoners following. He could see Jesse's shadow a few feet inside the tree-line. Several of the men saw it too, and began shooting towards Jesse.

Jason figures their bullets missed because of the dark night, the distance, and the inability to determine what was a tree and what was Jesse.

Jason saw Jesse take cover behind a large pine tree and he headed towards it. He came up beside Jesse and told him to run into the tall grass on the edge of the meadow and drop down to crawl toward the tractor shed until the rest of our men could get there. Jason knew that
the men would come running.

He
could hear the prisoners coming through the woods, cursing and shooting while they walked.

Jason
and Jesse were almost to the meadow when they saw a large group of HDI's approaching from the left. His heart felt like it dropped into his stomach and he told Jesse to keep going toward the tractor shed. He said there was somewhere between twelve and fifteen HDI's, but he couldn't get an accurate count because it was dark and the HDI's were on the move.

When the prisoners came out of the trees and into the meadow
, the HDI's spotted them and began heading towards them. The prisoners didn't even notice the HDI's until they were twenty or so feet away and began howling and snarling. The prisoners changed direction and were shooting toward the HDI's.

Jason and Jesse crawled into the woods at the right sid
e of the property and climbed a large oak tree. They hid behind the branches while they watched two prisoners get ripped apart and eaten by HDI's. The remaining prisoners split up and headed in different directions with HDI's close on their heels. Jesse says those were the fastest HDI's he'd ever seen.

Screaming, shooting, snarling, and howling was echoing all over the meadow. Jesse saw and heard the large shadow of Buttercup running toward the tractor shed. She stopped once and reared up on her back legs before she continued running.

They heard gunshots coming from the area of the tractor shed. They knew that our men had arrived, and almost climbed down from the tree. Jason suddenly threw his hand up to motion for Jesse to stop. There was another large group of HDI's walking underneath the tree, headed toward the meadow and the sounds of slaughter.

Jason had trouble deciding what to do. He thought that, if he and Jesse started shooting HDI's, our men might think the prisoners w
ere up in the tree. He stood up on the branch and yelled as loud as he could "There's HDI's in the woods to your left. Me and Jesse are gonna try to shoot 'em." He prayed that our men heard him. The HDI's certainly heard him and began trying to climb the tree.

It was the easiest battle he's had since shooting
HDI's at his ex-wife's house. As each HDI tilted their head to look up, Jason or Jesse shot them square in the face.

When no more HDI's came to the base of the tree, Jesse and Jason climbed down. They counted 16 dead HDI's around the tree
, then turned their attention back to the tractor shed and headed toward Mick to tell him what had happened. He sent them to the tree-line so the meadow would be surrounded by our group.

That's about the time I showed up.

It wasn't long before the sun showed itself, but it felt like forever. We could see across the entire meadow. Suddenly, Jesse screamed and fell to the ground. Jason rushed over to him and saw blood spreading across the left side of his shirt. Jason panicked and screamed "Jesse's shot!"

Mr. Hobbs took off across the meadow
, running toward the direction of Jason's voice. As he ran, someone from the other side of the meadow sent several shots his way. Mick used the sites on his rifle to find the shooter. It took a few seconds before he saw the tall grass swaying in a small area. He aimed the AR-15 and sprayed the area with .223. The grass stopped moving and the gunfire ended.

Mr. Hobbs and Jason were carrying Jesse toward the tractor shed while Mick crept t
oward the grassy area where he'd last seen movement. A couple of his shots had found their mark and the shooter was lying on the ground, crying in pain and praying for forgiveness of all his sins.

He quickly faded away and was dead when Mick knelt to check his pulse. Mick stood and put a bullet in the man's head, just in case he'd been bitten and might rise back up.

The sun was up. Mick and I were able to see bodies all over the meadow as we cautiously walked the perimeter.

There were both HDI's
, and uninfected strangers.

Jason and Soo went back to the campfire and loaded all the supplies in the wheelbarrow and onto the horses. Most of the backpacks and saddle bags contained bottles of liquor and pouches of tobacco. There was a small amount of junk food mixed in. There were two squirrels burned to a crisp over the hot coals.

The most valuable thing we got from them was several boxes of ammo and their rifles and pistols. We added them to our hidden arsenal and ammo shelves in the back corner of the basement.

We know nothing else about the prisoners. None of them had identification on their bodies or in their packs.

Soo and Jason brought the horses back to the meadow and introduced them to Buttercup. There are two mares and a gelding. There was a little bit of territorial arguing, but all four horses seemed to be getting along when I came inside to sleep.

I hear peo
ple stirring in the house, so I’m headed out to make muffins. I'll take several to Clinic Diane where Jesse and Pop are being cared for.

Hisa says she believes they will both make it but
it’s going to be a long time before either of them is back on their feet. Nana and Elaine are there to help.

My back is hurting and I have scratches and bruises all over my stomach and chest from being dragged along the ground and through the fire pit. I really did a number on my hands by using the boat paddle to vigorously beat the crap out of the guy who dragged me across the backyard. My palms are covered in blisters and splinters.

The remaining members of our group are uninjured.

Every woman that's able will have kitchen and cleaning duty all day today. Nana, Elaine, and Hisa will be in Clinic Diane, caring for Pop and Jesse.

We'll also have to do a special load of laundry because the clothing the men are wearing is covered in HDI goo and blood from the body cleanup. We don't wanna leave the clothes until tomorrow because we might not be able to get the filth off them.

Mr. Hobbs is staying near Clinic Diane, pacing outside the door and waiting for news about his grandson and Pop.

I had to take a pain pill because my back is hurting and there's no way I can stand at the kitchen counter and stove for hours today without it.

I don't know how much more of this I can take.

See ya later.

11:00 PM...

Pop is sleeping. He was in a lot of pain and Hisa gave him strong pain medication before she cleaned and stitched his wounds.

Hisa says the bullets hit no major arteries but healing will take a lot of time. Both bullets went completely through and out the other side.

Jesse's condition is questionable. Hisa has him on pain medication and the bullet is still inside. She has no idea if any organs were damaged. She can't decide whether to go in after the bullet
, or leave it alone. She's afraid she might do more damage than good by attempting to operate. We have no x-ray machine to be able to tell exactly where the bullet lodged or what it hit before stopping. The bleeding has almost stopped, and she's worried he’s bleeding internally. Only time will tell.

Dane left
the compound.

Two hours ago
, Mick went to stand watch and found a letter from him tacked to the outside of the front door.

Dane wrote that he was leaving in Marisa's Saturn because it is the quietest vehicle we have. He's headed to the University to get any medical books for Hisa that he can find.

He also plans to stop at the professional office building where Doctors offices are. He'll bring any books and medical tools he finds form the Doctor's private offices. If there's time, he'll go to the hospital and loot the operating rooms. He wrote that he'd be back before morning.

Mick said they loaded thirty-two bodies w
hich included twenty-four HDI's and five prisoners from the meadow, and the three prisoners that Pop and I had taken out.

He said that Pop did major damage to the prisoner in the woods behind the goat
pasture. The man was not only shot in several places but he had five or six knife wounds as well. I guess the bayonet in Pop's walking cane got some business.

They burned the bodies at the power-line clearing a couple of miles away. It took three trips to get them all.

The fence crew got a makeshift chain-link fence across the entire back of the property. Mick said that Dane worked like a mad man. They worked from noon until well after dark. Twice, they had to stop and shoot HDI's.

Carisa and I made bunny stew for supper. It wasn't as good as Elaine's but everyone ate their share and Mick said it was really good. I love that man.

I've made sure that the goats, chickens, horses, and cows have been fed and settled in for the night.

Let me be honest. I pray that Dane comes home safely with the Saturn full of medical books and supplies
, but I wish he hadn't gone off on his own.

My seventy-year-old Father
is laying in Clinic Diane with two bullet holes in his body that he got while saving my life. My seventy-year-old Mother is laying on the floor beside his bed.

Marisa has worried herself sick and is in bed, refusing to let Jason and the kids leave her side for watch duty, so I will take his shift in a few minutes. I insisted, and he didn't argue. Mick will be with me.

There's a sixteen-year-old, hard-working young man, who's fighting for his life. His Mother is laying on the floor beside his bed and his Grandfather is pacing outside the clinic in the dark.

My fifteen-year-old daughter is crying herself to sleep
, worried about both of them.

I have no more words in my head tonight.

Bye for now.

Sunday
, March 9

4:00 AM...

I woke up an hour ago and can't go back to sleep. I'm going to the clinic to insist that Nana goes to her motorhome bed while I watch over Pop until it's time to make breakfast.

Dane came
home a few minutes ago. He has the Saturn packed to the roof with medical books and supplies. He also has a large cardboard box full of medication samples tied to the Saturn roof with strips of cloth from hospital bed sheets. He stopped to grab a bottle of water before he heads over to the clinic to leave the Saturn for someone else to unload.

He's covered in blood, sweat, dirt, and goo. I didn't ask how or why.

He's heading straight back out to get trailers. I asked if he wanted a change of clothes and he told me there wasn't time because he plans to get every trailer we need today.

Mick and Jeremy are going with him, and they'll be working through breakfast and lunch. I told them that I'll have bagged food ready for them to pick up at breakfast and lunch time.

9:30 AM...