Not Dead in the Heart of Dixie (71 page)

Yep, you read that right. Onions and edible herbs

Ninety percent of what we grow in that field will belong to the military, and we can use the remaining ten percent to grow whatever we wish. Eighty percent will be onions and the other ten percent will be herbs. You can grow onions and several herbs year round in Alabama.

We would be required to harvest the onions and turn them over to a small military “resource gathering” unit. The herbs will be harvested by members of the unit in order to retain their freshness.

If we signed the document, thirty soldiers would return within three weeks to erect a tall chain-link fence around the field. A large sign stating “PROPERTY OF US GOVERNMENT AS OF (insert date here). DO NOT ENTER” would be placed on all four sides.

The gardens we currently have are our private property and not considered in the terms
and conditions of the agreement. We could choose to decline the agreement, and the field would be removed from our ownership maps and recorded as “Ownership Pending” and available to any buyer in the United States with the resources to maintain it.

If we agreed to the terms, the field will become fully owned by Kapper Hill Compound at the end of 10 years
of service and production.

Signing the agreement comes with badges allowing us to “recycle goods” from any unclaimed properties we find within a 100 mile radius of the compound.
The terms include the agreement to cause no harm to others we come across wearing the same badge.

Unclaimed property is first come, first serve. If we come upon a property currently being “recycled” by badge wearing
folks, we are to turn away and find another area. However, we are not required to afford the same courtesy to survivors wearing no badge.

It is highly likely that we will cross paths with both badge wearing folks and “non-participants.” The decision to turn away in the cases of non-participants would be at our discretion.

We are required to detain any person representing himself or herself as “national guard” until an official escort can be sent to retrieve them.

We are required to keep accurat
e and up-to-date numbers of the HDI's we kill and dispose of.

Did we sign the agreement? You're darn right we signed the agreement. Food and supplies every three months? We signed that agreement so fast it'd make your head spin.

Did we sign the agreement legibly using our real names? Hell NO!

Did everyone step out of the room so they could testify that they never witnessed us signing? Hell YES!

This included Josie, whom I thought we would have the most trouble from. She jumped on the idea like a lion on a three-legged zebra. I was pleasantly surprised.

As Mick headed to the door to ask Major Knellson to return, Josie stood and whispered in my ear “one night stand” and giggled as she walked out the kitchen door. Josie is a delightful bad girl.

I signed a completely unreadable “Ms. Molly Mack” in Mick's spot and he signed an unreadable “Chicken Scratch” in mine.

Major Knellson placed the agreement inside our folder without even checking the signatures and told us to head outside and take possession of our allotment. We didn't see him again.

Why did we do it that “silly” way? Well, we would've been happy to grow food for the troops on part of that field as payment for the supplies we were given, but that field was dangled in front of us and then held back like a carrot in front of a carriage horse, and then we were told “on one condition”

That, my friend, is called coercion... or maybe a better word would be “blackmail.”

It felt like a threat when the Major told us the field would be listed as “ownership pending” if we didn't take the deal. It felt like he was telling us that some horrible, unsavory owner would take over the property directly across from us and perhaps cause us grief while we struggle to survive. It felt like a dirty trick.

We
intend to grow onions and herbs for the government, but we intend to grow whatever else this compound needs to survive. If we need to use 20% of the garden, then so be it.

Our allotment included exactly what you'd expect and a couple of things you might not.

Along with a radio setup and four hand held radios, we got a notebook full of code words and click codes.

We got three barrels of flour, two
barrels of sugar, a huge plastic jug of baking powder, and a 25 lb bag of salt. We also got a dozen #10 cans each of stewed tomatoes, corn, carrots, green beans, kidney beans, lentils, pork 'n beans, peas, spaghetti, chili, fruit cocktail, peaches, pears, and assorted pie filling.

There are a dozen cases of Top Ramen noodles and another dozen cases of Cup 'O Soup.

We have two 50 pound bags of potatoes and about 20 pounds of onions along with two large boxes of beef jerky.

There's powdered butter, powdered eggs, powdered cheese, and two dozen tubs of lard.

We have coffee, tea, powdered milk, Kool-Aid, two-liter sodas and 35 cases of bottled water with 32 bottles in each case.

We have four big cookbooks on pioneer cooking, two books on food preservation, two books on gardening, and two books on Solar Power that were added at the request of Major Knellson.

There are fifteen cases of quart canning jars and eight cases of pint canning jars with twelve jars in each case.

We have a pallet each of horse feed, cattle feed, goat feed, and chicken feed.

We have to turn sideways to go down the rows inside the garage. I was loving every minute of it and so was everyone else.

We also got four red chickens and a red rooster to go with them
, as well as a male piglet because both of ours are female.

Every animal on the place was vaccinated and micro-chipped including Opie and Tig. Huh? I thought that was strange but the “man in charge” said it was to track the animals and discourage other survivors from stealing. I was surprised they didn't micro-chip all the humans as well.

We each received three pairs of shorts, one pair of pants, and five t-shirts along with a package of underwear and a package of socks. The women all received two bras.

The compound as a whole received ten, one-size-fits-all, sets of rain gear.

We got four M16's (one for each corner of the fence, I suppose), six Kevlar vests (yeah baby) and a big 'ol cast iron, claw-footed bathtub with a tall shower attachment and curtain rod that circles above it (OH YEAH baby!).

We got two cases of 1000 rounds each to go with the M16's.

We also got a dozen laminated and coded badges attached to lanyards to wear on “recycling missions.”

The last thing we received was a huge pallet of insect repellant along with written instructions on how to use it and color
photos of the “infected flies and every known mutation.” Each of us had to sign a list stating at the top that we had received the insect repellant and instructions for proper use.

Oh, there was one other box. On top of the taped box was written “Josephine Minor, CONFIDENTIAL” in big red letters. Josie grabbed it and headed to her motorhome.

We all stood at the front gate to see the troops off to their next survivor group. The rear guards stopped on their way out and told us to be aware that there may be unusually high numbers of HDI's behind the unit, but they had taken out most of them.

We stood there with our mouth's gaping as the last of the rear guards disappeared down the road.

Five minutes later, we were having target practice because several HDI's had come off the mountainside and into the field. Mick counted the bodies and I ran in to write it down on the blank pages in our new “HDI Records and Reports” book. We killed thirteen HDI's within 10 minutes of the unit's departure. Isn't that just dandy?

Tomorrow will be a big day as we try to organize and move all these supplies. We are very grateful for them, and I suppose my encounter with Battle-axe was worth it after all.

Carisa will be home tomorrow morning. I can hardly wait!

Bye for now.

Wednesday, April 9

I was busy making breakfast for the return of our incognito members when I heard gunshots coming from the road.

I wasn't surprised. The new M16's were getting a workout and we had to keep five people on watch duty, lying on top of the trailer fence out front, all night long.

The death number in our HDI report book was growing more rapidly than I could keep up with it.
Marisa entered the latest numbers while my hands were covered in biscuit dough.

Not long after
wards, I heard the sound of truck engines and I raced to the door to pull my baby into my arms. She was second out the truck door, between Luke and Larson.

She ran up the sidewalk and threw her arms around my neck. I cried like a baby. I knew she was safe with Dane and Soo, but still, I cried like a baby and erased the image of the lonely, hardened, dangerous Carisa out of my head.

Everyone made their rounds, hugging and shaking hands.

The men went to put all the vehicles back in place while the women came inside to finish breakfast.

We ate bacon, eggs, biscuits, and pancakes while we talked in detail about the experiences we'd had with the unit. Dane literally jumped out of his chair and ran out the door to lay eyes on the finished fence. He came back a few minutes later with a big smile on his face. He picked up Elaine and twirled her in circles. It was a wonderful sight to behold.

He slammed four pancakes and a glob of eggs down his throat and headed to the trailer fence with firepower, and bacon, in his hands to take over watch from one of the men who'd been there for hours. Soo, Isaac, Jesse, and Shawna did the same.

Several minutes later, a bunch of tired, worn-out men came in the door for breakfast. They swallowed their food while trying not to nod off in their plates, then they headed for bed. Mick is sleeping as I type.

Josie smelled fresh and clean when she walked in this morning. She tossed three additional Kevlar vests and two pair of night-vision goggles on the table. She said that Major Knellson had forgotten to add them in the allotment so he put them in a box for her to distribute as she saw fit.

She smelled like sunflowers and was sportin' a brand new Colt 1911 on her hip. She turned to me with a naughty look on her face and winked. She said that Chris (Major Knellson) had taken a special interest in our group and would check back with us often. Uh huh... I bet he will.

Carisa allowed me to hold onto her arm all through breakfast and now she's in the garage
, trying to organize the work of moving food and supplies into the basement.

When Josie finished her breakfast
, she stood and handed me a folded cloth bandana. I felt something small and rectangular shaped in that bandana, and looked up at Josie. She had a naughty twinkle in her eye as she turned and headed out the kitchen door.

Inside that bandana was the most beautiful pack of long menthol cigarettes I've ever seen. I threw the bandana on the floor and ran out to the back porch.

Josie was waiting for me and we talked as I indulged myself. She made me stand downwind because she's pregnant. I quietly asked if she intended to tell Chris Knellson that the baby was his. I thought she was gonna fall off the porch laughing. “I just might” she said. That Josie is a bad, bad girl. I love her.

Now, I have 19 “nasty” cigarettes left. Yay! I wanna lay in that big bathtub and hang my leg over the side along with one hand, holding a cigarette between my fingers, while Mick massages shampoo into my scalp. Maybe later.

Pop, Nana, and Emma are harvesting something in the garden, so I'm sure there'll be food to take care of this afternoon. I am so grateful!

Josie and Emma have lunch duty and
, after I finish a few loads of laundry, I'll entertain myself by watching them work to.

See ya later.

2:10 PM...

The men were all awake in time for lunch and the number of gunshots near the trailer fence has dropped drastically. We were able to remove two guards from the lineup and I was astonished when I went to enter the dead HDI numbers.

The unit left behind 112 HDI's (so far). Mick says they'll wait several hours after they see the last one before going out for body cleanup. At least
they have the backhoe available, and cleanup should move pretty fast. Thank goodness.

Dane and Mick sat together at lunch and discussed building the guard towers, looting for metal sheets, and going after another stash on the bad guys map.

They both agreed that they'd go after another stash three days from now. In the meantime, they'll see what town looks like since the unit went through and then, draw up plans for the towers and catwalks.

Dane wants to add two guard towers to the mid-sections of the fence instead of one. Mick wholeheartedly agreed with him. They also want to line the catwalk with metal sheeting if they can find enough.

I threw the phone book on the table in front of them and told them to dog-ear pages listing any place they assumed metal sheeting could be found.