The Journal: Cracked Earth (37 page)

* * *

JOURNAL ENTRY: March 11

Although the electricity was on for only two
hours yesterday, it was a good sign. I needed to know more. I
backed the new-to-me four wheeler out of the makeshift lean-to and
headed to town. John didn’t even question me going alone, which
seemed odd. I sincerely think that we are past the worst of any
threats, though I still wore my Kel-Tec in the shoulder holster
that now feels like a second skin.

I bundled up for the ride, even though the
air temperature was again approaching sixty, and I drove along at a
moderate thirty mph, enjoying being outside in the sunshine and
warm breezes.

* * *

“Good morning!” I greeted Anna, who gave me a
big smile.

“You’re in good spirits. You must have
noticed our surprise yesterday.”

“I certainly did. It was too short, but I’m
supposing that it was a short run to test the circuits. Have you
heard whether the power will be back to stay, and when?”

“Actually, I was on the phone the power
company this morning,” she said. “We should have full, regular
power by this weekend!”

“Oh, my, that is such great news, Anna. I
think we need to do some checking around town.”

“You always seem to be one step ahead of me,”
she laughed. “Yes, we need everyone to shut down everything
possible so that the surge is lessened.”

“We’ll have to go through all the vacant
houses too and shut the breakers down completely.”

“That was suggested too. We’ve got four days.
They said they will throw the switch on Friday at noon.”

Ken and Karen walked in where we were all
gathered. Everyone was in a great mood. From the glorious weather I
think. They were unaware of our short burst of power yesterday.
Karen sank in the nearest chair when Anna made the
announcement.

“Glory be!” Karen exclaimed with a sigh. “I
can’t wait to take an endless hot shower.” We all laughed, we also
understood.

“We do need to hit all the houses and camps
and shut the mains off. You want to head that up, Ken?” I
asked.

“You bet. Things here have been pretty quiet.
We could use something to do.”

“This reminds me,” I said. “My oldest son
Eric made his way up from Florida on military transports. He and my
granddaughter are staying in Don’s house with Jason.” Ken sobered,
remembering how hard I was hit with my brother’s death. “He’s
retired military, Ken. He spent a lot of years in Special Ops. I
think you might be able to use him in your new police
department.”

“Absolutely,” he said without hesitation.

* * *

We spent another two hours going over maps,
marking where we knew that camps were and marking the on-grid ones.
In town, going door-to-door seemed to be the most logical way to
reach everyone within the town limits and still check all houses at
the same time.

I volunteered for the town route and
suggested that Jason and Eric team up, since nearly everyone in
town knows Jason, and that John and I go together, since most know
me. This way Jason could introduce his brother around town and I
could introduce John. Strangers showing up at the door these days
is not a good idea. After all that has happened, someone might get
shot. Jacob and Emilee would spend a day at the school, in a real
classroom. The kids need some socialization. John and I would also
take the stretch of houses by Dawn and Guy. I knew that most of
those neighbors were gone, and Dawn and Guy would know which ones,
and could help identify which homes needed attention.

Ken would search out the camps with Lenny.
Karen would take the houses around the inland lake, where they
lived.

* * *

At first I couldn’t find John. I thought he
might have gone across the road to visit with the boys. I poured
myself a glass of water and planned on sitting on the deck for a
while. When I got to the door, John was already sitting on the deck
and talking on his cellphone. When I opened the door, he hung up
rather quickly and pulled the other chair closer to him.

“Your phone is working? I didn’t think we
were getting reception yet.” I was curious who he had been talking
to.

He looked a bit guilty, though it might have
been my imagination. “I’ve tried to keep it charged. After the
power yesterday, I thought I would try.” He took my hand. “I just
talked to my daughter,” he grinned, his eyes damp.

“Oh, John, that’s wonderful! How is she? And
the rest? Your mom and sister?”

“Everyone is fine. They’ve all been worried
about me and wonder when I can come home.” He kissed my fingers,
but suddenly my heart was stumbling. I couldn’t keep out the
thoughts that clouded my mind. Did he have a girlfriend waiting for
him in North Carolina, or maybe even a wife he hadn’t told me
about? Did he want to go home to his
real
family? My insides
lurched with a painful loss and I froze.

“I told them I
am
home, and that I
would try to visit when things settled down.”

* * *

“I can’t believe we’re out of coffee,” John
said, bewildered at the prospect of not having his morning dose of
caffeine.

“I’m sure there’s more. It’s buried in the
back of the bucket shed,” I reassured him. “I thought I saw a bag
in the cupboard yesterday.”

“That bag is whole beans, and I don’t want to
have to start the gennie for a few seconds to grind them, assuming
you have a grinder.” He slumped in his chair.

On top of the woodstove, looking very much
like a decoration is an antique coffee mill. Antique, yes, but it
is still very functional. When I handed it to him he stared at it,
then at me. I showed him what it was and how to use it.

“You never cease to amaze me with what you
have thought of and have stocked,” he said.

“I’ve always been fascinated by manual tools
and with how our grandparents use to do things before all these
electric gadgets came along. Sometimes the old tools come in
handy!” I grinned. “I just hope I never get to the point of using
the Sad Iron.”

“What is a sad iron?” I took the odd looking
hunk of cast iron off the shelf where I was using it as a
book-end.

When I placed it in his hands, he exclaimed,
“That’s heavy!”

“They usually come in sets of two, with one
handle,” I unclipped the wood handle from it to show him. “They
would stay on the woodstove, heating, until needed. Whoever was
ironing that day would set up the ironing board next to the stove,
clip the handle on and iron until that one got too cool, set it
back on the stove, and clip on the next one. That way she could
keep ironing, since there was always one being reheated.”

“Why are they called ‘sad’ irons?”

“I know that kind of chore wouldn’t make
me
very happy!” I laughed. “If I recall, the ‘sad’ is an old
word for solid, because some of the sad-irons didn’t have
detachable handles.”

While John played with the mill, adjusting
the grind until he was satisfied with it, I made sugar cookies for
the kids to take to school at noon. The coffee tasted extra good
this morning.

* * *

Because all six of us were going into Moose
Creek, we discussed taking the car. Jason thought it might be
better if they took Don’s four wheeled drive truck and John and I
could take a four-wheeler. We would be hitting some muddy roads
that the four-wheeler would handle better. He had a good point. I
handed him the plastic container filled with cookies, reminding him
I wanted the container back. It was one of those disposable ones,
but
nothing
was disposable anymore.

By the time Eric and Jason met us at the
township hall after getting the kids to school, plans had changed.
Ken decided that it would be better if he and Eric teamed up, so
they could get to know each other better. Jason and Lenny set out
on foot checking up on the few businesses that were on their way to
the heart of Moose Creek. Eric and Ken took Don’s truck down Resort
Road to check on the camps along there.

Anna, Karen, John and I discussed the best
plan for the rest of the houses.

“I still think I’ll take Lake Meade, I know
most of the folks anyway,” Karen said. “It’s also a nice day for a
walk.” Even as she said that, I noticed she had several speed
loaders in her pocket for her revolver. A couple of years ago,
before she retired, we’d been talking weapons. She was supposed to
carry an automatic like the rest of the troopers, however, she
preferred her .38 revolver and could load it faster than any of the
guys could change a magazine.

“Do you have a radio, Karen?” I asked,
knowing that they only had one between them.

“Ken took it.”

“These don’t have much range, but they’re
better than nothing.” I handed her an FRS unit. Jason had taken one
with him, and John and I would keep the third. I gave the last one
to Anna, so we could check in with her if necessary. We had been
agreed to keep the first day short, working only four hours. The
school would hold the kids until then.

Without other electrical interference, the
radios worked rather well. John and I were on the road out of town
where the houses were well spaced. Most of them on twenty, forty or
eighty acres, and with rare exception were visible from the road.
The first five we stopped at were empty. It was easy to find the
circuit panel and pull the mains off, disconnecting the house from
the grid. At the sixth house we found a dog on the front porch,
lying by the front door, like he was waiting for his master to come
home, long dead. I don’t understand owners who will let their pets
fend for themselves. I was angry when I stepped over the dog and
shoved the door open. The stench hit me hard and I gagged. I guess
the dog’s master was home after all.

I turned back toward John. “Take a deep
breath before you come in.” I pulled my turtleneck over my nose.
“There’s a body in here somewhere.”

John followed me in with a handkerchief over
his nose. He headed for the back of the house. In the kitchen he
found the circuit breaker panel, opened it, pulled the mains, and
backtracked, grabbing my arm as he moved quickly. Once outside we
both took deep gulps of fresh air. I took a notepad from my pocket
and jotted down the address.

“Are you alright?” I asked John when I noted
how pale he was.

He nodded.

“This won’t be the last one, you know. I
mean, I hope it is, but chances are there are more.”

He nodded again, and revved up the ATV.

* * *

We covered fifteen more houses before we
headed back to the township offices. By the solemn faces, I knew we
weren’t the only ones to have discovered bodies. Only Jason and
Lenny had been spared. I’m sure that’s because in the closer
housing units of town, everyone kept tabs on each other.

“What’s the total so far?” I asked.

“All the houses in the town proper have been
covered. The power is completely off, and major appliances are
unplugged. There were no unpleasant surprises,” Lenny reported.

Ken looked down at his notes. “Eric and I
covered twenty camps. Five had someone still living in them and the
rest were vacant. We found two bodies, both older folks. I’m
assuming they died of natural causes.”

“I covered ten houses,” Karen said. “Most
were empty and no bodies, but I did run into some opposition. At
the last house a few of the folks were not exactly friendly. One of
them actually pointed a shotgun at me! I told them—from a
distance—about the power, and then left.”

Ken glanced down at his notes once more.
“We’ve done almost eighty houses today, and found only three
bodies.” He folded his papers. “I’d say we’ve done rather well, all
things considered. If The Jack had anything left, I’d suggest we go
out for a beer. Since that’s not the case, I’ll see everyone here
tomorrow morning at nine-thirty.”

* * *

Back home, Emilee jabbered away about how
nice the teachers were, how much fun she and Jacob had at school,
and how everyone enjoyed the cookies that I had sent with them.

“Can we take more tomorrow? Dad says we’re
going again, and earlier this time. All day school, just like at
home.”

I’m not sure if Emi was enjoying school
itself or the attention of bringing treats for everyone.

“Sure, but we’ll have to make the cookies
tonight, Em, since there won’t be time in the morning. How about we
make oatmeal this time?”

“Yum!” she exclaimed, clapping her hands,
which got Jacob clapping too. “Those are my favorite!”

* * *

JOURNAL ENTRY: March 13

The oatmeal cookie recipe made four dozen
cookies, and I sent only two dozen with the kids. It’s not good to
have anyone get used to something that they can’t always have. The
kids were dropped off shortly after 9:15 A.M. School starting time
has gotten very fluid with only a dozen students. Some showed up
later, some not at all. I made a simple jelly sandwich for Emi, and
sent a package of ramen for Jacob’s lunch. The teachers were very
used to Jacob’s finicky eating, and happily boiled some water for
his noodles so they could be sure he would eat.

* * *

The four of us were already at the township
hall when Ken and Karen showed up. Anna was there when we arrived.
Lenny didn’t even show.

“Even though we knew we were doing something
important, I think Lenny was really bored yesterday,” Jason
commented. “Or maybe he didn’t want to face any bodies today. I
have a feeling that when we branch out, that it becomes more of a
possibility. I’m not sure that I want to either, though I’m willing
to risk it to get the power back on and stable.”