Not Dead in the Heart of Dixie (89 page)

A construction crew of 12 men will arrive on the compound to build the house for Chris and Josie sometime soon after the unit leaves. Supplies will be provided for them and they'll be living in tents and caring for themselves while they construct the home.

Dane drove his motorhome inside the fence and parked at the top of the hill on Marisa and Jason's property.

Bulldozers are working to clear the area where the old Stang house stood as well as the area Dane's wood shop house was located.

The log fence is being sprayed with some sort of flame retardant chemical.

There's a large crew in back, digging and lengthening the tunnel. They'll add supports and work on it for the next four days. We'll have to be satisfied with what they finish in that short amount of time. We'll continue to work on the tunnels after they leave.

There's a fire truck from the old volunteer fire department parked near the rear fence and another parked beside the front trailer fence.

There are two of the 250 gallon water containers there as well. It'll be up to us to fill them. Chris had a fit about all the hay stored inside the trailer. I asked him where else we should store it. He had no answer for me. Dane, Jason, and Kevin are receiving a crash course in proper use of pump trucks.

The gate across the driveway is no longer heavy chain-link. It is now made of thick iron, and slides on heavy duty tracks to the sides instead of opening in or out. Until solar power can be hooked up, a heavy chain and lock will continue to keep it closed. Again, because they're short on time, they'll work on solar stuff later and we'll just have to deal with it for now.

Two sides are up on the chain-link fence surrounding the onion field. Posts are up all the way around. The fence will be complete before the crew leaves.

The portable lumber mill is at the lumberyard where a small crew is cutting boards of various sizes and loading them on a flatbed trailer. They'll get as much done as possible, and we can use anything left over after Chris' house is finished.

There's a large, electric, fixed
lumbermill inside the lumber company. Someone will be working on plans to get it running whenever the unit returns.

The Wilkerson's and three kids are living in Shawna and Lisa's
old house. They need the room with the two attached buildings. Lisa has moved into Isaac's old house.

There's a small trailer full of fabric and items pertaining to military uniforms and gear near Emma's sewing building. She is required to re-order supplies when the trailer is 75% empty.

Since Velma “Battle-axe” Dodson is now a civilian, we will be responsible for building her clinic. However, supplies will be provided by the military on the condition that the clinic is built near Chris' house. I asked that the name of the clinic remains “Clinic Diane.” No one opposed.

Since HDI's are being drawn to the rock quarry, Chris' is toying with the idea that the rocks really do generate energy from the past and that previous “Ghost Hunters” may have had it right to some degree.

Some sort of noise device will be placed on a cable across the rock quarry. We are expected to check the quarry once a week and notify Chris when it becomes full of HDI's. The rock faces are so slick that the HDI's are not able to use each other's bodies and climb out. Actually they don't appear to have the desire to leave. It seems they want to be absorbed into the rock.

Managing HDI's is second in priority to fighting and driving back the Chinese, North Koreans, and fake military. Pao chimed in and said PWB's (people without brains) are much less threatening than people with brains.

We have a large amount of canning jars and lids when we combine the amounts from everyone's allotment. I can't get an accurate number. The jars are stacked in a corner of the basement and it seems like a gazillion identically clad military folks are buzzing around all over the place.

Several crews on different projects will rotate shifts and work through the night.

A large number of troops are working specifically to guard the compound and kill the large number of HDI's attracted by all the noise. HDI's are coming at as from the rear and both sides as well as the front.

There's no telling what I'll wake up to tomorrow.

I'm headed to bed. Bye for now.

Tuesday
, April 29

Breakfast was served in the large mess tent. It was the usual affair and it was deli
cious. We are grateful for it.

Mick leaves in three days. Good Lord, how it hurts my
heart to write that. I'll be able to see him three days a month if the unit he's assigned to is in the area.

Josie sat with us at breakf
ast and told us a little more.

I asked her to make sure that Chris has Mick, Soo, Isaac, and Rick assigned to his unit. She doesn't know if he can request certain men in his unit but she thinks he might be able
. She'll talk to him about it.

Chris' unit will combine with a smaller unit and he'll be in charge of 600 men. I asked if it would be a supply unit, or a fighting unit, and she doesn't know. Chris hasn't told her. She suspects it'll be a fighting unit. GULP! On second thought, maybe I shouldn't ask tha
t Mick be assigned with Chris.

We left the mess tent together
, and I saw Marisa and Jason several yards ahead of us with their hands over Amber and Michael’s ears.

I was bewildered
, because the machinery wasn't that loud. I understood their actions when Josie and I passed the well digging crew and heard all the swearing and cussing coming from the men.

Hey, they're digging a well for us. They can curse and swear all they want and I don't plan to say a word about it. It's been my experience that a loudly cursing crew is either making great progress, or having a lot of problems. I hoped our crew was making great progress because I don't have the ability to run over there and throw magic well-d
igging dust over their heads.

There's a line outside the door of Emma's building. There's a lot of soldiers with uniforms in need of a lot of repair. Josie and I saw Emma open the door
, smiling as one soldier left and another entered. Emma' in hog heaven. I guarantee it.

Josie laughed and wondered aloud if she should volunteer to be Emma's assistant. She said she wouldn't mind watching brave young soldiers undress and redress in front of her eyes. I smacked her on the arm and told her to remember that she's a married woman now. Secretly, I'm delighted to see that the “na
ughty” Josie's still in there.

Deuce ate breakfast with Luke and Larson before heading to the
meadow. Jesse went with him.

Deuce believes the army will steal our horses away. I tried to reassure him that the army has plenty of vehicles and fuel to run them
, but he's still suspicious and keeping his eye on things.

This morning
, I asked Jesse to take the goat’s milk and a cup to share it with the soldier's standing watch. He said one of the men drank a cup of milk and fell to the ground. It scared him 'til the others started laughing and the man on the ground stood up with a big smile. He told Jesse he'd fainted because he thought he'd never see real milk again. I don't think Jesse appreciated his humor and told me he didn’t want the “water boy” job.

A small group, including Kevin and Tim Stein, have gone to pick up more little wooden buildings. We told Battle-axe (I REALLY need to start calling her Velma) they'd bring home two buildings for her and attach them. She can use one for private quarters and the other for a clinic until we c
an get something larger built.

Tim Stein will be living in a wooden building as well. I've lost count of how many we have, how many we need, and where they all are. I plan to draw a map of the
compound once the unit leaves.

Mick and Kevin intend to take the teenagers fishing later today. Mick wants to spend quality ti
me with Carisa before he leaves, and the teens have been aching to get off the compound. Ian says there's several boats at the marina and most of them have keys in the ignitions.

I had visions of Carisa flying down the lake at a high rate of speed, fishtailing the boat and laughing up a storm before she hit a rock and was launched over the bow. I shuddered. You'd shudder too if you'd been in the car when we taught her to drive. I threatened
to wear body armor and a helmet when it was my turn to ride with her. She likes speed. She likes speed A LOT.

I told Mick and Kevin that none of the teenagers are allowed to drive a boat unless it's a little one with foot pedals. They looked at me like I was crazy. Mick said he had no intention of allowing any teen in the
driver’s seat, and I should know that he well remembers Carisa's driving lesson days.

I'm headed out to see what's been accomplished since last night. I heard gunfire several minutes ago. I suppose a gro
up of HDI's were on the loose.

See ya later.

1:00 PM...

The tunnel is 35 feet in the hillside and there's a large room at the end. The passageway has supports in place and the men are working on the large room right now. The roof is limestone and granite. Wooden supports are attached to the walls with huge spikes that remind me of railroad spikes. Huge wooden beams cut from logs are attached to the wall supports to secure the ceiling.

The door to the tunnel will lift
on hinges much like old garage doors without rollers. Dirt, Grass, and weeds will grow on the outside of the door and overlap the edges so it'll look like part of the hillside. Lord, please let me be able to know where the handle is and find it when I need to.

A soldier grabbed me by the arm and led me to the side of the big room to show me a tiny, thread sized
, strip of gold inside a thin layer of volcanic rock at the base of the wall. He was very excited about it. I had trouble actually seeing it.

There will be two tunnels off the main room, one on the left and one on the right. They will not be directly across from one other. One will be at the front of the lar
ge room and the other will be near the tunnel entrance. I had visions of the vaults in the Egyptian Valley of the Kings.

Those tunnels will also lead to large rooms where we can store supplies, or sleep, or whatever. Doors to the additional tunnels will be disguised to look simply like walls of the big room in case anyone ge
ts inside.

The men may be able to get one of the additional tunnels and room dug, but they won't have time to finish the supports. We've been warned not to camp inside the second room without supports in place. We've also been told that small ventilation ducts are in the big room. I have no idea how they did
it. Maybe I don't wanna know.

Soldiers and compound members are all over the place
, and valuable lessons are being taught.

I need to find my way into a few of those classes
, along with everyone on the compound but, you know, some folks can learn and understand one thing while others cope to even get the concept.

I'm a “hands on” type of learner. I need to get in the mud and play with
it for a while before I'm able to come out with a gorgeous, one of a kind, vessel or vase.

I loved my pottery classes in college. I wonder if the unit has a pottery wheel
, 'cause we've got plenty of clay around here. Nah... Probably not.

See ya later.

4:30 PM
…

Get ready to peel
Mick's brain off the ceiling.

Jesse approached him this afternoon and asked if it would be okay for him to give Carisa an engagement ring. He wants to marry her when she turns eighteen, and he thinks she'll want to marry him too. He's waiting to ask her
'til he gets our permission.

Mick had to walk to the pool and dunk his head before he could speak. Through gritted teeth he told Jesse he'd talk to me about it. I saw him walking fast and stiff-legged up the hill and knew right away that he either neede
d to pee, or something was up.

He walked straight up the porch steps and a
sked me to follow him inside.

We talked for an hour about how the world has changed, the options Carisa will have, and the choices she'll need to make. She just
turned sixteen, for Pete’s sake. I know that my great grandparents already had babies at sixteen, but this is now, not 70 years ago. I had to give kudos to Jesse for approaching Mick before he asked Carisa without our permission.

We finally came to the agreement to speak to Carisa
before giving Jesse an answer.

We spent 45 minutes talking to her. She didn't say a word until Mick and I shut our mouths and waited for her answer. She said
eight words, which were “Engagement ring? Umm, NO. Promise ring? Umm, maybe.” Then, she turned and walked out the door. We talked for 45 minutes and that's all we got? Geez!

Anyway, I hope she's somewhere with Jesse
, explaining her intentions and solution to Jesse desire to lay claim to her. I sent a thank you up to Jesus that we'd raised a smart daughter with good common sense.