Resurrecting Home Read online

Sarge nodded. “Figured that wouldn’t take long,” he said, stabbing the cypress cane into the sand.

  Thad nudged me with an elbow. I laughed to myself and looked at the piece of wood. Sarge had done a lot of work to it: the top was a nearly perfect round ball with three fingerlike points coming up around it from the staff, as if a claw were holding it.

  “Nice cane. You make it?” I asked.

  Mike stifled a laugh. Sarge smiled and stood up.

  “I did, check it out.” He took a couple of steps using the cane to support his weight. When he passed in front of me he planted it on the top of my toes, then leaned on it.

  “Ow, dammit, that hurts like hell!” I shouted, but he didn’t let up.

  Looking me in the eye, he asked, “You like my walking stick?”

  “Yes, yes, for fuck’s sake get that thing off my toes!”

  By now Thad and Mike both were roaring with laughter. Sarge snatched the walking stick off my poor foot and returned to his chair. I wiggled my toes. They hurt like hell.

  “You’re one mean ole bastard, you know that?” I said, shaking my foot.

  Sarge smiled broadly. “You ain’t the first to say it and you won’t be the last, my boy.”

  I looked at Mike. “How’re your toes?”

  He shook his head, rubbing his elbow. “Didn’t get my toes, but he almost broke my elbow when he whacked it with that damn stick.”

  Thad laughed and I looked at him. “It could have just as easily been you. Keep that in mind.”

  He grinned and held his fingers up like a pair of scissors. I slapped at his hand and laughed again. Looking back at Sarge, I asked, “Why are you here anyway? Aren’t you supposed to be out at the river recovering?”

  Sarge jutted a finger over his shoulder. “The captain in there called me up. He wanted me to come over to figure out what to do with all them DHS boys. Can’t keep ’em here much longer. He got word from up the chain that we’ve got to move ’em.”

  “Good point. They must be getting restless. They starting to be trouble?” I asked.

  “They tried to revolt once, and figured out pretty quick that was a bad idea,” Mike said.

  “What happened?” Thad asked.

  Mike looked off toward the north side of the camp. “I think they’re still digging graves over there.”

  “No shit, how many were killed?” I asked.

  “Just the really stupid ones,” Sarge replied.

  “Three killed, couple others wounded,” Mike said.

  “Perez said some of the refugees are giving you trouble too?” Thad said.

  “A little, they’re just feeling their oats is all. They settle down pretty quick, though,” Sarge replied.

  “Hey, not to change the subject, but how’s our garden doing?” I asked.

  Sarge actually seemed to brighten up. “Doing real good. The squash is coming up pretty good and okra is already about this high.” He held a hand about eighteen inches from the ground. “We’re working on it, keeping it weeded an’ all.”

  Mike sat back up with a shot. “We? Hell!” He pointed at Sarge. “That old shit ain’t pulled the first weed! Me an’ Ted are doing all the damn work!”

  Sarge raised the walking stick and thumped it into the sand. “As it should be.”

  Thad smiled. “You know, Sarge, with that stick and the way you’re sitting in the chair, you got a regal look about you.”

  Sarge smiled. “It’s good to be king.”

  Mike threw a small piece of wood he pried from a crate at Thad. “Thad, you suck any harder, your damn eyes’ll cross!” Thad laughed uproariously.

  Pointing at Mike I said, “If he’s the king, guess that makes you the jester.”

  Sarge and Thad started to laugh, though Mike didn’t appear to see the humor. “All of you can go to hell,” he said, giving us the finger.

  “Lighten up, Mikey. And, hey, where’s that box you had earlier?” Sarge asked.

  Mike hopped down from the crates and opened a cardboard box. He removed a can from it and tossed it to Sarge. Sarge turned the can around in his hands, looked at the label, and held it out to Thad.

  “Here, Thad, take that back with you guys.”

  Thad looked at the can inquisitively. “Seeds?”

  Sure enough it was a can of nitrogen-packed garden seeds. A wave of relief washed over me. “Where’d you get these?” I asked.

  Sarge waved his hand over his head. “The DHS had all kinds of shit here! Them preppers would love to get their hands on this joint.”

  “You know you aren’t going to grow a damn thing here,” I said, sweeping my arm to gesture around the camp. “It’s just sand.”

  Sarge nodded. “I know, that’s why we haven’t planted any of it yet. We’re talking about planting the entire area around the cabins but we ain’t decided yet. Gotta coordinate with Sheffield and the boys about what they want to do with the supplies.”

  “So what’s the plan with the DHS guys?” I asked.

  “We’re going to move them out to Frostproof. It’s a bigger camp and is also under our control now. A Guard unit out of Haines City is there.”

  “I’ve seen that place. Looks like a prison,” Thad said.

  “Remember back in the day, how everyone saying it was a FEMA prison? Bet they never thought it would be used for their own people,” I said.

  “How do you guys plan to house and feed them all? I mean, there’s no food, no running water . . .” Thad said.

  “We’re letting the boys at Frostproof work that out,” Sarge said flatly. “Ain’t my business, besides, they probably won’t be there long. The plan as of now is to get them all over to MacDill in Tampa.”

  “What are they going to do over there?” I asked.

  “We can’t house them forever. Some will probably be released, and the hard-core ones will kept locked up. They’ve got the manpower and facilities there to handle them.”

  “I take it from that that the military is on our side in this?” I asked.

  Sarge nodded. “For the most part, at least the ones that matter. A few small units went over to the other side, but they didn’t manage to take much in the way of hardware. The real question is NORAD. No one’s talked to them yet as far as I know.”

  Thad’s eyebrows went up. “Isn’t that where they control all the nukes from?”

  Sarge nodded. “Yep.”

  It was a sobering thought to consider that with all the shit going on, we didn’t know who was in control of the nuclear arsenal.

  “You’re just full of good news, aren’t you?” I asked. Sarge replied with a grin.

  Thad nodded and held the can out. “These for us to keep?”

  “What the hell you think I gave ’em to you for?” Sarge barked. “Take that case with you, there’s plenty here.”

  “Damn, thanks,” I said, looking over the other five cans in the box. It was kind of like Christmas morning, with tomatoes, corn, green beans, yellow squash, spinach, and kidney beans each in a sealed can.

  “Yeah, thanks, Sarge. We’ll get these in the ground pretty quick. Not going to help much right now, but if we can make it a couple months, it sure will,” Thad said.

  I nodded. “It’ll be a nice little project for us to work on.” We stood there for a few more minutes, shooting the shit, filling in Mike and Sarge about what we had done in our neighborhood. After promises for them to come over, I looked over at Thad. “You ready?” I asked, then looked at Sarge. “Time for us to get back. Take care of yourself.”

  Sarge waved a hand at me. “Y’all take care.”

  “See you later, Mike,” Thad said. Mike nodded and waved at him. We headed back for the truck to see the girls. Aric and Kay were all standing around the truck.

  “Y’all ready?” Thad asked.

  Jess nodded. “Yep, just waiting on you guys.”

  Aric nodded. “Yeah, I’m ready to get the hell out of here. And thanks again for taking me in.” He was holding Fred’s hand and she smiled at him, star
s in her eyes.

  “Are you sure that you’re going to be all right, Kay?” Jess asked. Concern was etched across her face. I knew how much she and Fred cared for her.

  Kay smiled brightly. “Oh, I’ll be fine. Don’t worry about me. But you have to come back and visit.”

  Jess wrapped her up in a hug. “Don’t worry about that, we will.”

  Aric looked at Kay. “If you need anything just let me know.” He looked at me. “You guys have a radio, right?”

  I nodded. “Sarge knows how to get in touch with us.”

  Aric gave Kay a hug. She patted his back. “You go be happy now.”

  He smiled and kissed her cheek. “I will, but you need to be happy too.”

  Jess looked at Mary. “Well?”

  Mary hesitated a moment, then looked at me and Thad. “If I won’t be a burden . . .” she said, her voice trailing off.

  “No burden at all, we’d be glad to have you,” Thad replied.

  Mary smiled. “Then I’ll come. It’s got to be better than this place.”

  Once everyone was loaded up, I started to drive out, taking a route that took us past the command complex. Sarge raised his walking stick in salute to us as we passed, and I tooted the horn at him. Out on the road I drove down the center line, slowly weaving back and forth across both lanes. In the backseat Aric had his face out the window as the wind blew past him. It was clear that he was happy to be outside of the camp. Mary, Fred, and Jess chatted one another up as I drove. Looking at them in the rearview mirror I couldn’t help but smile. Our little community was growing in leaps and bounds. I just hoped we could sustain it.

  “I’ll drop you guys off at your place so Aric can stow his stuff,” I said, looking at Fred in the mirror. She nodded as I turned at the intersection of their small road. While it was going to be a little crowded, Mary was going to stay there as well. She was in no condition to stay alone, and besides, Fred and Jess were really excited to have her back as well.

  “What the hell is that?” Aric asked as we made the turn.

  Thad looked out the window. “It’s a set of stocks.”

  “That’s what I thought. What the hell are they for?”

  “Just what you think they’re used for. Don’t worry, we’ve only used them a couple of times,” I replied.

  In the mirror I saw Aric give Fred a “WTF?” look. She shrugged. Even though Aric was a good guy, as part of the DHS, he had been sheltered from some of the worst of what was happening. Though his reaction annoyed me, I let it go. I knew he’d be an asset, bum arm and all, and plus, if Jess vouched for him, I figured he had to be trustworthy.

  After dropping them all off, we went back to Danny’s house, which had become the central meeting place for our burgeoning little community. Thad carried the box of seeds to the back porch, where everyone was sitting. Naturally, it got everyone’s attention.

  “What’s that?” Danny asked.

  “Please let it be mac ’n’ cheese, please let it be mac ’n’ cheese,” Taylor said, crossing her fingers.

  Thad set the box on the floor and opened it, lifting one of the cans. “Seeds.”

  Danny practically jumped up. “Really?”

  He tossed him the can. “Yeah, Sarge gave them to us.”

  “That’s great, how many are there?” Danny asked looking the can over.

  “Six of them. Should be enough to start a pretty good garden,” I said.

  “What kind?” Mel asked as she got up.

  Danny started pulling out the cans. “Tomatoes, spinach, corn, green beans, kidney beans, and squash.”

  “Fried squash sounds good,” Danny said, patting his stomach.

  “That’s good, because we’re going to need it,” Bobbie added.

  I looked at her. “What do we have left, food-wise?”

  “Some beans and rice. A little freeze-dried veggies, but with the number of people here it isn’t going to last long.”

  “Define not long,” Thad said.

  Bobbie looked at Mel. “A week, ten days maybe,” Mel said.

  “Oh shit! That bad?” I said. My mind started racing. I didn’t even tell them that we had invited two more into our neighborhood.

  Mel cupped her face with her hands, clearly stressed. “What are we going to do?”

  “How long do you think before the seeds produce anything?” Brandy asked. She seemed apologetic, almost, and she shot Tyler a look that seemed to say I knew we shouldn’t have come here.

  “It’ll be a month, month and a half before we get anything out of the seeds,” Thad said.

  Now Brandy’s face showed fear. “What are we going to do?”

  Tyler smiled. “We’ll do all right. It’s not like we had a lot of food at the campground, you know, we had to work for it every day. Nothing’s really changed.”

  I was thinking about all this and made a suggestion. “I think we need to search every house here again, thoroughly, and check out the few we haven’t been into yet. We need to bring back anything that could be of use that we might’ve ignored before. Seeds, oil, salt, spices, that type of stuff. We can’t be picky. Whatever we can use to stretch our supply.”

  “Canning jars too. We need to keep an eye out for them,” Thad said.

  “Right. Bring any of those we find back as well,” I said.

  “Sounds like we have a lot to do, then. Might as well start today. Maybe we should divide into two teams, one to get the garden plot ready and another to search the houses,” Danny said. “I’ll start on the garden. We need to get everything into the ground as quick as possible.”

  “If it’s all right with everyone, I’ll help Danny,” Thad said.

  “We can search houses,” Tyler said.

  Mel looked at Brandy. “If you’ll watch the kids, we’ll check the houses.”

  “Okay, I feel like I should be helping, though,” Brandy said timidly.

  Mel laughed. “Like watching them isn’t work.”

  Brandy smiled. “I guess you’re right.”

  “Cool, we’ve got a good little team here.” I looked at Mel, Bobbie, and Tyler. “Let’s take the truck and get Fred, Mary, and Jess. We’ll work a street at a time.”

  “What about us?” Lee Ann asked.

  “You two are coming too. We need all the help we can get.”

  Chapter 2

  I stopped at the girls’ place to let them know what was going on. Fred and Jess said they would be part of the searching team, while Mary asked if she could help with the kids, saying she had a soft spot for children. It seemed like that might be good for her to do, considering the transition she had been through, so I pointed her in the right direction. With Fred and Jess loaded up we drove down to the end of the road to begin the hunt.

  It was strange being back in this area. Everywhere I looked there was a memory of what happened before we left for the cabins. The wrecked Hummer from the day we were raided by the DHS from the camp was still sitting just inside the woods. At the intersection of the main road was the spot Reggie was killed. It got me in a brief funk, but I couldn’t dwell on it—we had to keep on moving.

  It was a long afternoon of searching. We went house to house, checking each one very thoroughly. Every closet was opened, every drawer was rummaged through, every outbuilding was searched. Most of the houses had already been scavenged—that was obvious enough to tell in many cases, particularly when the front door was kicked open. In these houses¸ there was generally little, if anything, of worth.

  Going through the houses gave us an idea of what the people who abandoned them had gone through. Some of the houses emitted a horrible stench, just an ungodly smell. In a couple it turned out to be the bathrooms, the toilets having been used without water, to excess. Others had mold growing in them. In all of them, though, it was the bedrooms that really caught my attention. Soiled linens on the beds, filthy clothes strewn about the floors. It was as if the people just quit, gave up.

  While not every house was a wreck, even the cleaner
ones showed some of the same signs of wear. The one thing that each house had in common, regardless of its condition, was a trash pile. Sometimes they were set far from the house, but in one particular case, the pile was outside a kitchen window. I had to laugh at the thought of simply tossing the trash out the window. Mel would go crazy if I even attempted to do that.

  After going through about ten houses, we had little to show: a half-used bottle of vinegar, a can of peas, some cans of pepper—there always seemed to be pepper. With each house, spirits were flagging. After what seemed like several hours, we came across one house that we hadn’t noticed before. It was set back off the road, somewhat obscured by trees, and it didn’t look like anyone had tried breaking into it yet.

  “Everything around back is secure,” Tyler reported.

  “I can’t believe no one’s been in here yet,” Mel said.

  “I wonder what’s in there?” Fred asked. A lively discussion ensued. Suddenly the house was transformed into the ship from Swiss Family Robinson, containing everything we’d need. If only we could get to it.

  “Why hasn’t anyone gotten in? I mean, the windows aren’t even broken,” Tyler said.

  “Looks like someone beat the shit out of this one,” I said, knocking on one of the windows. It was covered in scratches and strike marks and had obviously taken quite a bit of abuse at some point.

  “What are they, bulletproof?” Aric asked, examining them up close.

  I ran my hand over it. “Doubt it, probably has a security film on it.”

  “What’s that?” Bobbie asked.

  “It’s like a supersecure tint. You put it on the same way.”

  “If it’s just tint, shouldn’t you be able to break it?”

  “I read some stuff on it once. They claim it would take a fire axe ten minutes to get through it. And it’s expensive. This window here probably cost close to a grand to cover.”

  “A grand? They were trying to protect something in there, then,” Tyler said.

  “How are we going to get in?” Taylor asked, hopping from foot to foot.

  “Let me take a look around,” I said.

  I walked around the house, checking all the doors. Tapping on a door off the garage, I realized it was a solid metal commercial-grade door with a dead bolt. On the rear of the house was a set of French doors. These too turned out to be metal, and from the shattered plastic frames lying on the ground, someone had tried to break in there too. The only other door was the front door, made of a really nice solid wood. It was also sturdy, showing signs where someone had unsuccessfully tried breaking it with an axe.