For the disclaimer see the Authors Note at the beginning of Chapter 1
The Journals Of Elizabeth Anne Green
Chapter 10
Wednesday January 3rd
Well things didn't go exactly as planned. Fortunately Glenn and Maggie were up ahead in the little Hyundai hatchback, and were able to turn around and warn us. None of the cars would have had the room to turn around on the narrow back road we were on in time otherwise. We tried to get the cars turned around before the heard could notice us, but we were unsuccessful. We ended up doubling back on Dr. Lee Road, to the main road and stopping at the Town Creek Food Shop. While the adults were consulting the map, the herd caught up with us and started in our direction. Carl noticed a few of the ill wandering along the road we had just come from and got his dad's attention just as the rest rounded the bend.
On the bright side, the building was already boarded up so once T-Dog and Glenn managed to get the doors pried open we were able to hide. It's fairly clean and undisturbed, a bit dark, dusty and cold maybe, but out of the wind. There's plenty of bottled water and other drinks, snacks and such. Hopefully the dead will clear off by morning.
Thursday January 4th
We are here. By here I mean at the Rambling Briar Bed and Breakfast. It's kind of small. The Grimes' have the double suite at the very end of the hall, but it looks like Sheriff Grimes is camping out on one of the couches of the sitting area near the stairs. Maggie and I have the suite next to them. Glenn and T-dog have the one across from ours and Carol has the little room downstairs. Daddy has the room by the stairs.
There's an attic room, too. It's a lot nicer than it sounds, all yellow, blue and pink pastels. Very pretty. It's a square turret with a 360 degree view. That's where we're going to stand watch at night.
We lit up the fireplace in the great room to cook dinner. Carrol made a venison stew and had bread rising within an hour or so. All the fireplaces in the bedrooms have gas logs installed, but the propane tank is full and they all seem to be working. We'll have to figure out how to remove them and get the fireplaces working once the gas runs out, but for now its cozy. It also doesn't put up a column of smoke to tip people off that we're here. It's nice having a real room again.
The water wasn't running so T Dog and Glenn used a car battery to get it goin. We filled every container we could find so we can flush the toilets, cook and bathe. We'ill probably end up doing that every two to three days. We have to run the engines to keep the batteries up and that uses the fuel so we have to be careful about using the water wisely. We looked for a hand pump but couldn't find one.
Everything here is modernized, but in a way that looks old fashioned, the stove looks like a wood stove but it's actually propane. The stovepipe is just for looks. The closet in Carrol's room was full of antebellum clothing, not really antebellum but reproductions. There were even few corsets, crinolines and petticoats. Carrol thinks that they may fit me, and wants me to try them on. Maggie was trying to help her talk me into it, but I'm more interested in taking a nap, so I told them that maybe I would play dress up with them tomorrow.
Friday January 5th
Turns out that the outdoor kitchen is in fine working order. It's not really outside, it's just a free standing building similar to the summer kitchen that burned down when Daddy was little. It's set up and everything. Half of the kitchen is cordoned off so people can walk through without messing stuff up, like in a museum, but the pole stand things were easy to move aside.
There is also a spring house, an empty chicken coop, a carriage house, slave quarters, a dairy building and a kitchen garden. Maggie and Glenn found it all while walking around the outbuildings. There's a well pump in the barn. The barn and chicken coop are the only buildings that were actually being used. The other buildings are set up like the summer kitchen. It's a perfectly curated living museum with displays for people to walk through on historic tours. The trails are pretty obvious if you look carefully, they're just really over grown.
There were also two horses, two cows and a bull in the pasture. They've been on their own for a quite a while. Even Daddy couldn't get close to them, they are real feisty and skittish. They are almost ferrel. It looks like they've had a rough time too. Both of the horses have scars on their flanks that look like bites, so I suppose they've had encounters with the ill. That would totally explain why they are so scared of us. It also makes me think animals can't get sick like people do. If they could we would have to avoid every squirrel, deer and cow that the dead have managed to injure. I cant imagine having to run away from a bunch of dead opossums or some such.
The chickens are all dead. Maggie and Daddy think they starved after the people here got sick. T-dog and I are going to clean it out. Maybe this spring we can get some chicks from the Haywoods or the Dixon's.
I did end up humoring Maggie and Carrol, as you can see. The corset thingy wasn't so horrible. It could be because I'm so small to begin with. Carrol and Maggie tried to wear the dresses too, but Maggie is tall enough that the skirts came just above mid calf, and the corset didn't adjust her ribs. She is just too sturdy for the corset to change her shape. Carrol fit it just barely, in order to fasten the tops Maggie and I had to pull the laces pretty tight. She said she was going to pass out if we didn't undo it quick.
I ended up playing barbie, but it was fun. I'm just glad we don't have to wear this stuff every day. Lorri thought it was a hoot. I knew we had another film cartridge for the Polaroid camera, but I thought we were going to save it for the Peanut. Lorri insisted on getting a picture of me once Maggie did up my hair. When I first saw the picture it was like looking at that old picture of Mama's Grandmother Roberts that always sat on the piano, just in color.
Onto other realizations, I think Carrol and T-Dog are a bit more than friends. I saw them holding hands when I was walking from the pasture to the cook house. I was hungry and wanted to get a slice of bread and some peach preserves and when I went in they were sitting at the table. They hid it so quickly that I almost missed it. I pretended not to notice but I guess I may have killed their moment. It's not my business so I'm not going to say anything unless they decide to make it public or are so obvious that I'm sure everyone knows without me being the one to point it out. It would be awful if I misunderstood something and embarrassed them, but I don't think I miss understood anything. Anyway, not my business.
Saturday January 6th
Glenn, Maggie and I went on a run to the feed store. It was supposed to be an easy walk into town, and Maggie was going to teach me to drive, and it was supposed to be an opportunity to hash things out.
So the plan was that we would spend some sisterly bonding time while Glenn tagged along. We were also going'ta do useful things. Maggie and I were going to communicate and figure out how we can move forward in a civilized way. While doing that we were supposed to walk into town and try to find a car that works. We were going to scavenge about a bit, get enough gardening supplies to fill the back of whatever car we got and I would get to drive us home. Things were going great, 'til they weren't.
We left the house after breakfast and family prayer. We walked 'til about noon, and everything was going okay. We actually communicated. We used the talking stick like a couple of kindergarteners, and it worked. Maggie had to listen to what I had to say until I handed the stick to her. I listened to her until she was done and handed the stick back to me. We agreed on healthy boundaries. We took the time to recognize how we have been hurting each other without realizing it. Maggie feels like I don't respect her experience and that I am constantly shutting her out. I am going to try to be a better little sister. She understands that she is smothering me and is going to give me more space.
We walked and talked in the woods parallel to the road because "stranger danger". We each had a knife in hand and backpacks on and poncho's flipped over the tops of the backpacks. Maggie and Glenn had handguns. Maggies was strapped to her thigh with a bandana and Glenn's was tucked in the back of his waist band. We made it into town and Glenn found a Chevy Suburban with a key over the sun visor. They helped me drive it to the Southern States Store with only one incident.
I ran over someone. There was a man wandering towards us and I floored it backwards. I mashed him between the bumper and another car. I feel so bad about it, but he was dead already, I suppose. I kind of freaked out a bit. Okay, I freaked out a lot. Maggie spent an hour helping me to calm down. I didn't mean to smash him. I meant to drive away but I accidentally put it in reverse. The Suburban was ok though. No dents or anything because I tried to stop as soon as I realized that we were rolling the wrong way, but not fast enough. After my freak out Maggie made me finish it off. I stabbed it in the head with my knife. It wasn't messy, but it was harder than I thought it would be. The skull I mean. It was hard emotionally too, but the skull was really hard. I'm glad the knife had such a heavy blade now. I'm glad nothing squirted out or anything too.
Like I said everything went fine until it stopped going fine. We loaded the Suburban with enough packet seeds and starter trays to start enough plants to feed everyone for a year and also be able to collect seeds for next year from what we grow. We didn't want to be too greedy, in case someone else needs to be able to grow food too. We also got some bales of Wyoming Hay Cubes, and about enough alfalfa, timothy and millet seeds to feed the horses and cows up, and provide for some chickens, if we can get any. Oh, and also some hand tools; a few shovels, pruning sheers and lock cutters. We headed for home and on the outskirts of town the gas ran out and the motor quit. No warning or nothin, except the gas gauge that had been completely unnoticed by me.
As we were checking things over a giant herd came into view. We saw them, they saw us. We saw some storage units. Me and my (not so) great ideas. I grabbed my back pack and the bolt cutters from the back and pointed Maggie and Glenn towards the storage units. We were able to climb over the fence and open a storage unit which we attempted to close up again as soon as we realized it was jam packed full of the dead. While they tried to wiggle under it, we realized that climbing the fence hadn't been necessary. After a minute or so, the herd realized it too. Fortunately the next unit had no dead people in it and here we are.
This isn't so bad though. There are plenty of soft things to sleep on with the living room set and quilts being stored here. There is also a few cases of MRE's and a bunch of camping equipment. It's just dusty and musty. The dead have been bumping against the door for a while now. I only have 4 candles and 1 extra pack of batteries for my flashlight so I am going to try to conserve them.
Sunday January 7th
I've been thinking a lot about my life choices today, free agency and such. There's nothing wrong with not learning to drive, after all, eventually all the gas is going to go bad. It doesn't last forever.
I was reading Psalms and it was interesting to note how much of his life David spent hiding from Saul his friend, and Absalom his son. He went from place to place hiding in caves and forests and all sorts of places trying not to get killed. Upon reflection, I think I can sort of relate. While it's not a cave, this storage unit isn't warm. We are surrounded by dead people who want to make us as dead as they are, but we are safe. As I read the third Psalm It was like reading about our situation. The Lord has always provided. No matter how bad our situation has been we have always been ok. In verse 6 David declared that he will not be afraid of 10's of thousands of people being against him. I need to be more brave. The herd will wander off eventually. We just need to sit tight and wait it out.
I got to hear a lot of stories about Glenn's childhood. He has two older sisters in Michigan, Noona and Grace. His Mom is a nurse and his Dad is an architect in Troy. Noona finished her residency a year or so before everything went crazy. Grace went to culinary school and has a bakery. Glenn was studying psychology and neuroscience at Emory University. He was going on a scholarship that covered tuition and books but not housing. That's why he was delivering pizza and knew Atlanta so well. He told Maggie and I so much about them that I feel like I know them. He even showed us the family portrait he keeps in his wallet, taken right after Noona finished her residency in pediatrics. I always thought Glenn was kinda short, but since Maggie is kind of tall I wasn't sure. He is 5'9" so Maggie really is taller than him by an inch. Not much I suppose. I actually thought they were the same height. My bad I guess.
I think I'm gonna heat up one of the Spaghetti MRE's. It's really cool how they work, or HOT. The MRE came with a plastic bag you add water to. It has an exothermic reaction with the chemicals in the bag which heats the water and then you put the unopened MRE pouch into the bag and WALLA! Hot Chicken Caciitori. I feel bad wasting water but its only a little bit and it gets hot enough to warm me up too.
Monday January 8th
Not much to write. It is drizzly today. The floor near the garage type door is damp and I can hear the dripping. It's cold too. I can still hear the dead groaning and shuffling around outside. We are just laying low until they move on or we run out of MRE's. Other than that, not much to write.
Tuesday January 9th
I turned on the flashlight instead of using up my candles and discovered that the walls don't go all the way up to the ceiling. Where it peaks the walls just cut straight across instead of angling up. We might be able to get on the other side of the building away from the herd. The buildings are super long. We would probably have to climb across 40 or 50 units to get to the other end, but its better than staying here forever. We are going to start in the morning.
It took sitting here for 4 days to figure out that we aren't as trapped as we thought. That's a good life lesson I guess.
Wednesday January 10th
It's stormy outside. We've heard the rain pounding the metal roof most of the afternoon. The first thunder was a little bit ago, so I don't think it will let up anytime soon. There are puddles near the doors of the storage units. It's not a bad thing though. We were low on water and have been using our plastic bags to divert the water leaking in the unit into our bottles and a few other containers we could find.
So, climbing the walls is tricky, It took an hour to get over the first one, taking turns and lugging our backpacks. At this rate it could take another week or two to get to the other end. My arms are sore, my hands are sore and my legs are sore and by back is all crampy. My hands are at the beginning of blisters from climbing the para cord. Even with foot loops tied into it, it was unpleasant.
People store all kinds of junk in these things, like dead marijuana plants with light setups that don't work with the electric cut off. Maggie decided that since the plants are here and we are here we should get as much of the buds as we can off them for medicinal purposes. I guess we are risking getting arrested by Sheriff Grimes. I'm not sure he can ground me. Besides, it could be useful.
We also collected some other things today as we went. We found a block and pulley stem in the 3rd unit, along with a bunch of boat things, canvas rolls and life jackets. The pulleys were useful in hauling our bags up, instead of climbing the rope with them on. Maybe, tomorrow we can get through more than 5 storage units. At least we are safe, as long as no one falls and breaks their neck.
Thursday January 11th
We found a couple of ladders in the 2nd unit we got to today. There were cans of paint, brushes, rollers, a pallet of sheet rock and several buckets of pre mixed joint compound. There were also some doohickeys that Glenn said were stilts. He even demonstrated. They attach to your legs and are mechanical. The ladder has made a big difference.
We also found a pry bar. It was in a unit with a dead guy. He was shuffling around when I got to the top but I didn't see him until I landed. He saw my light. Fortunately Maggie threw the pulley at him, which mashed his head.
We checked his wallet for his ID. We will write his name on the outside of the storage unit later in case he has people looking for him. His name was Joshua Galloway, Born 9-12-1992 and went to his final rest today. I don't know when he first passed away. His business card indicated that he was a medical supply rep. There was a picture of him with a red haired lady and 2 little girls and a baby in a blue Thomas the Tank Engine blanket, so I suppose he left behind a family, or maybe they are long dead. It makes me sad thinking about it.
We have his bag with us. I'm enjoying the crank radio flashlight thing. It had his spare K-Bar, what may be a small one man tent, a first aid kit, a multi tool, and a journal, among other things. I'm going to read it out loud to Maggie and Glenn to pass the time till we go to sleep, and get everyones mind off this endless driving lesson, and the continuous rain.
I hope we don't have to dig the car out when we get to the end of this thing. On the other hand, I should pray that its still there at all.
Friday January 12th
We made it to the end without realizing that we are locked in. We are going to brainstorm our exit strategy. We have to break the roll down door without attracting attention. Glenn wants to use a crowbar to bend the door sideways. I think it will work. We also have some gas cans we found 26 units ago. If we each cary one we should be able to mostly fill the tank on the Suburban. If we can't get to it, we are just going to run until they are far enough behind that we can skirt around and escape without them following in the direction of home.
Since we are stuck for now, I will list some of the more interesting things we found. Besides the regular boxes and stuff. Cars in various stages of repair, canning stuff, food, books, a school buss tricked out like a camper and a taxidermied Rhinoceros and Giraffe (which are probably illegal), a horse trailer with a bunch of tac and 3 very nice western saddles, a sidesaddle, grooming supplies, ferrier equipment and what looked like a prepper's stash from before everything happened.
Also a dead guy. I mean a real one that only died once. Obviously a murder. He was tied up in a trunk and shot in the head. The car was a really old green Pontiac.
Anyhow, you name it, it's here.
I only read the first dozen entries of Josh's Journal. He had been keeping the journal for several years and was almost to the end of it. It will probably take a few days to read it all. He wrote in a very compact style. The first entry was the day before he married Amy. She was the red haired lady in the picture in his wallet. He had a copy of their wedding picture pasted onto the page with his thoughts about his first day being married. They looked so happy. It's even sadder that he's dead the more I know about him, but I hate to think that its possible that no one remembers him. It's a sad thought. He was a doodler, there're drawings along most of the margins. Things like cars, the beach from their Santa Monica hotel room, birds, trees and even abstract jumbles of lines that are interesting but aren't of anything.
Saturday January 13th
Dorothy said it best. There's no place like home. Metallica sang that "Anywhere I roam, Where I lay my head is home." Daddy said they looked all over for us, they found the suburban and fueled it up to bring it back to the bed and breakfast. They figured it was the one we found because it had exactly what we had talked about getting and one of my hair sticks was in the cup holder. I had forgotten about it until we had been in the storage unit an hour or so.
T-dog and the Sheriff noticed us breaking through the storage unit door and running through the rain. They were looking around the area we had left the suburban in trying to find us. That was the last trip to find us they were going to make. If we had missed them, we would have had to walk back. We could have done it probably, but I'm glad we didn't have to. T-dog had to roll down the Hyundai window and call out to us before we figured out who they were. We were crammed in tight to the backseat, even with our backpacks tossed into the hatchback area. I ended up sitting between Maggie and Glenn because I'm the smallest. From all the fanfare I guess they all thought we were dead.
We were happy to be back and eat real food. I had a bath. It was so nice. I stayed in until I looked like a pale raisin and Maggie started banging on the door. They changed a lot of stuff here. Carol and Lorri have been using the summer kitchen very well. We had squerrel stew with canned vegetables, sourdough buns and chess pie. I get to sleep in a real bed. I was able to find candles to replace the ones I used up in the storage units and batteries too, but I think that Josh's crank radio flashlight is going to be a permanent resident of my bag. Oh, and it has a solar panel too. I only have to use the crank if the battery goes too low after dark.
The bed has a real mattress and sheets and I am reunited with my Christmas pageant nightgown. I'm going to use my newfound light source to read more of Josh's Journal before I go to sleep. Life is good.
Sunday January 14th
We might be going back to the storage units if we can figure out a way to lure the herd away. I think they are planning to cut all the locks so if anyone needs to get to safety they don't end up having to break doors or if someone needs stuff they can access it easily. I guess that's the Monday plan.
I made pie today. There are a bunch of home canned cherries, peaches, apples and berries so I opened up the jar of cherries and made 3 pies and they should be done before too long.
Tuesday T-dog and the Sheriff are going to check on the Dixons. I sort of wanted to go, but after the storage units, I think I've has enough adventure for a while, so I will write them a letter instead, make some cobbler in a dutch oven for them to take with them. I know for a fact that the Dixons haven't had cherries in a while and that they are a favorite of Old Man Jim. Maybe I should send some for Paul and the Haywoods too, as a peace offering sort of. Or a few jars of cherries for Mrs. Haywood to cook up herself. I'll talk to Carrol and see what she thinks.
I've read the Journal all the way up to Julia and Olivias birth. They were born through In Vitro Fertilization. Amy had difficulty getting pregnant and staying pregnant. They were going to be the 9th and last attempt at having a child. The pure joy radiating off of the pages makes me feel happy just reading it. Amy was too scared to decorate the nursery, so while she was in the hospital recovering from the c-section he and her brothers and sisters put together a Beatrix Potter themed nursery. His mother gave him the crib set she had made years ago the first time Amy got pregnant and the matching set she'd made after the ultrasound. She had made curtains and sheets and everything. The pictures are amazing. His sister in law, Amanda painted the wall to look like a fairy tale forest with bunnies and squirrels and a fox.
If it looks like we are going to be here long enough, maybe I should think about throwing a baby shower for Lorri. I wonder if she is thinking about nursery themes.
Monday January 15th
T-Dog and I cleaned out the chicken coop. It was so nasty. To make sure there are no diseases from the dead chickens we put the dirty straw bedding, the chickens and everything that wasn't nailed down in a pile in the chicken yard and burned it. We also put the metal poultry equipment in the fire to sterilize it. It stank. Burning feathers make a black sooty smoke that gets everywhere and smells rotten.
I had secretly hoped that T-dog would forget that I was going to help him with the coop, and that he had done it without me while we were in the storage building, but no such luck. Its finished and over now. The chicken coop is clean and in order. We discovered that the grain bin next to it is full of laying pellets. It's about 20 feet away from the coop and the chickens had no access to it so Daddy is sure it will be safe to give to new chickens, if we can find any.
Glenn, Maggie, the Sheriff and Carol went back to "Kickapoo Storage" to see if they can divert the heard and sort through a few of the units. Most of the dead were gone so they just gave the ones still there a final rest. Maggie was able to remember which unit had the horse trailer and stuff. They didn't have time to go through much though because it was almost dark by the time they had finished taking care of the dead.
After getting cleaned up, I spent most of the afternoon sitting on the fence trying to get the horses to let me pet them and reading more of the Journal. The mare is very skittish. She is a mostly dun colored appaloosa. The stallion is white with brown splotches all over.
I read as far as Joshua Burbank Galloway the 3rd's birth. He was a surprise. After all the trouble that Amy had getting pregnant and staying pregnant with Julia, Josh Jr was just a happy little accident. Amy was 4 months along when she realized that she was pregnant and waited another month to say anything because she expected to miscarry and didn't want to bother anyone about it. Jr was born on January 3rd of last year. That means that if Amy, Julia, Olivia and Jr are still out there, Jr just turned one a bit over a week ago. Julia and Olivia were 12 so they'd be 13 now, thats a bigger gap than Carl and Peanut.
Lorri is thinking about nurseries. She and Carl drug a crib and a bunch of other baby things out of the basement while T-Dog and I were cleaning that coop. I sure hope Carl did most of the heavy lifting because she should be somewhere between 20 and 25 weeks. Before the sickness there were nurses and doctors who could help a baby survive being born so early but now it would be a tragedy if something causes Lorri to go into labor.
Tuesday January 16th
T-Dog and the Sheriff left after lunch to go check on the Dixons and Make sure the Haywoods are okay. I made sure to send a cherry cobbler with them for Old Man Jim and Mr. Dixon and and a few jars of cherries, enough maybe to give one to the Haywoods if they happen to stop by on the way.
I was sneaky about the letter. I don't know if it was really needed, but I didn't want to stir up any drama. I put it in a zip bag and taped it to the under side of the lid of the dutch oven.
They intend to get back sometime tomorrow. The weather has dried up and the sky is clear, so unless they come across too many dead they should be just fine.
Daddy, Glenn, Maggie and Carrol went to go through more stuff in the storage place, and have decided that everything is fine where its at, but did draw out a map and labeled where everything is so that if we need something we'll know where it is.
I helped Lorri finish setting up the nursery. I was right to be concerned. Carl was born by c-section and I think that she's more scared than she's been letting on. At least we seem to be on the way to reconciliation.
I think the horses are getting used to me being out here writing or reading in the mornings. I think I'm going to call the stallion Bull. He looks like a brown and white cow the way his splotches are. I'm calling the appaloosa Dot. I think Dot will be coming into season soon, Bull is very protective of her whenever someone tries to go near her. I also noticed that they get really still and look ready to bolt whenever a dead person comes near the fence. They both came close enough to touch today but I just left them alone. I want to be as non threatening as possible. I think I will bring some sugar lumps for them tomorrow. Maybe I can get them to let me ride. It's a goal more useful than learning to drive.
I suppose its time to think about new goals for a new year. I know its a bit late but I've been distracted.
I have misplaced my yoga book. I think I have mastered all the versions of downward dog. Planks are pretty basic. I can do it on my elbows for 3 minutes or so, sideways and facing the ground. I can do it with my arms straight for almost a minute without my wrist hurting too much. I think I will keep doing them. I did find a Qi Gong book in one of the storage units. Come to think of it, I probably lost the yoga book in the storage units. It probably fell out when the bag was being hauled over one of the sheet metal walls. Any how, its been replaced. I'm going to focus on the 8 brocades. Thats a series of exercises the ancient Chinese army trained with. I realize I'm not putting a time frame on this goal. I don't think every goal is going to fit a schedule.
My other goal is to learn as much about midwife skills as I can. It may end up being necessary. I'm sure its just a matter of time before Maggie and Glenn end up making an announcement. I'm less worried about Carrol and T-Dog. Carrol is probably passed that stage of life. I'm sure Daddy and Lorri have a plan of some sort but Daddy isn't young anymore. This one has a time frame. Sometime in the next 10 weeks or so. Peanut is really going to be the one to set the pace on this one. Maybe I can find some books on herbal medicine that deals with woman's issues.
My other goal is to be included in the next check in with the Dixon's. I miss listening to Old Man Jim's stories. To be honest, I worry about Mr. Dixon. I know he's a grown man an capable and all that, I just feel concerned that he doesn't take care of himself as much as he should. I know from past incidents that he needs looking after. He's accident prone, unlucky or jinxed or something, maybe a walking catalog of all the reasons women have a longer life expectancy than men. I'm glad he at least has Jim to look out for him, but still…
With T-Dog gone Carrol's been mopey and distracted. She hides it well, but if you look closely her cheerfulness is forced. Her eyes give it away. On the other hand, I doubt Lorri has even noticed that the Sheriff is gone. She actually seems more lively and less stressed. I suppose its because the Sheriff tends to avoid her. Although his stuff is in "their" room I don't think I can recall him ever setting foot in there except to get something.
Wednesday January 17th
l worked on planks this morning, and breathing properly. Qi Gong looked so easy. Actually its very easy some ways. Its more about control than flexibility. Its more about strength and graceful movement and breathing. It takes a lot of concentration. My mind was too busy focusing on my breathing to wander all over the place like it does when I'm working on Yoga. I think It's a good thing. I haven't felt this calm and focused in a long time. Maybe ever.
Bill and Dot came up to me as I finished Josh's Journal. It was sad really. So, a few months after Josh Jr was born Amy was in a car accident and she and the twins and Jr died of their injuries. Sad in a way. At least he didn't have to worry about putting them to a final rest. They didn't wake up tying to kill him. He was taking time off to grieve when everything went bad. He was evacuated to Atlanta and then Ft Benning.
He was sure that the military run camps were a deathtrap, but he wasn't given the option to stay home, or to leave when it was obvious that the FEMA camps were unsafe. He managed to escape when some of the quarantined ill managed to get into the general population. From what he wrote everything happened so fast that more people died by getting injured from being trampling while trying to run away and then got bit, than able bodied people being infected. That caused even more ill to try to hurt people and it snowballed into chaos from there. At one point the soldiers started to spray machine gun fire into the entire crowd of people in his section.
There were ill who were dead everywhere and somehow he ended up with several bodies on top of him. He was sure he would starve to death but he didn't dare to move for three days, and when he crawled out from under the bodies, there wasn't anyone alive or dead moving around. Somehow he got to his FEMA trailer safely enough, packed up his few belongings and what food he could find and decided to head to Pennsylvania to see if he had any family left.
Back in October he got bit by a little dead girl. He walked up to her thinking she had lost her family. When he called out to her she turned and he realized she was dead. When he noticed that in calling out to her he had attracted more dead, he got momentarily distracted dealing with them and that's when she bit him.
To avoid hurting anyone he shut himself up in the storage unit. His last entry was October 13, the day after he was bit. I guess he probably died later that night or the next morning.
On a brighter note, I remembered the sugar lumps for Bull and Dot. They positively loved them, enough that I was able to pet each of them briefly. I really want to groom their manes. They are a tangled mess.
The Sheriff and T-Dog got back later this evening. They had some chickens but were tired and went straight to bed. They promise to tell everything in the morning. Maggie and Carrol took the chickens to to coop and set them up with water and food and half a bale of old hay that isn't fit for feed. The chickens are roosters. All 10 of them. That means that when we eat them that's all there are. No eggs. I'm sure there's a good reason, but I have to wait for morning.
Thursday January 18th
I got mail! I also got a bunch of looks to go with it. It was properly sealed when I got it so I know Sheriff grimes didn't open it, but he felt it necessary to ask Daddy's permission to give it to me, or whether it should be read aloud in front of everyone, or whether daddy wanted to screen my mail himself. It's a federal offense to mess with someones mail. I believe that he needs a warrant to look through peoples it. It's in the 4th amendment, and I said as much. Daddy told him I could have it.
The first one was from Paul. At first I thought it was maybe a love letter, but, it turned out to be a breakup letter. I guess he was feeling like I was his only option. I was the only girl he wasn't related to, wasn't already seeing someone, or more than 5 years younger than him. He really didn't think his parents would kick our group out over it. I don't feel bad about it. That's pretty much the way I was thinking about the situation as well. I was probably worse, because I was using him to get everyone off my back about Mr Dixon.
Speaking of which Daryl wrote me a letter as well. I was surprised to get that one. He was renting one of the Kickapoo storage units and wanted me to get something out of a locked toolbox he has in #571. He put the keys for the storage unit and the trunk the lock box is in on an leather strip in the envelope with the note. I'm wearing it as a necklace so as not to loose them.
Old Man Jim's letter was so sweet, Isn't the picture hilarious? I'm just going to keep it in here.
So, T-Dog and the Sheriff had a couple of adventures. They had to re rout and wait out a herd for an hour or so. That was "fine" though. That was the only incident while they were on the way to the Dixons.
On the way back they had to wait out a bunch of feral hogs. One of them rammed the car.
The Sheriff and T-Dog said Old Man Jim couldn't spare any hens now, but after hatching he may have some. Instead we have just shy of a dozen roosters. I can't imagine riding in the Hyundai with a cage full of chickens in the back. Glenn and T-dog spent most of the morning vacuuming feathers and straw out of the car and airing it out.
Sheriff Grimes seems to have had some sort of epiphany on the trip. I don't know what, but he sat next to Lorri at dinner and he didn't camp out on the couch this evening. I hope they can reconcile because they're putting Carl under a lot of stress. If something happen's to one of them It would be nice for Carl to be able to remember them getting along, and being happy.
I helped Carol make one of the roosters into chicken and dumplings. She's a good listener and gives good advice. She also doesn't mind if I sing hymns while I work. I think it annoys Lorri, so I try to stick to pop or country when I cook with her. Carol likes it I think, and sometimes even sings with me.
She has a nice voice. I was singing 'Nearer My G-d to The' with her while doing the dishes and T-Dog came in and started singing too. It was nice. He was putting the dishes away as soon as she dried them. I was tired and decided not to stay, but they were sipping coffee and talking like just friends when I came to bed. I'm glad they have someone to connect with.
I'm connecting with the horses. Horses are good to talk to. Today they only took about 30 minutes to mosey on over. They quickly ate up their sugar lumps and spent the rest of the morning grazing on the grass and weeds. Dot was feisty and tried to move in on Bull's sugar lumps by gently body checking him. It didn't work though. They even let me pet them. Dot seems to like it when I scratch under her neck and Bull likes his shoulders scratched and petted. Tomorrow I'm going to bring a curry comb from the horse trailer and see if they will let me brush them off.
[Hi Sweet Girl,
I got your letter out of the pot before That Idgit managed to burn it on the stove. Thank you, by the way that was the best cherry cobbler I've had in years. We will likely be joining you soon. Enjoy the roosters. I would have sent hens but ya'll arent gonna stay there long enough for them to start laying. Stay out of sight of strangers. I should have asked your Father to let you stay here but it's done now. Just keep out of sight and I'm sure Daryl and I will see you well.
God willing,
Jim]
Friday January 19th
Bull and Dot were thoroughly groomed today. It took me all morning. I did it backwards, mostly because I didn't think they would let me do as much as they did. Usually I would have done their hooves first, but I thought I was lucky that they let me brush them. Bull kept flicking his hooves when I finished brushing him and when I grabbed his foreleg he lifted it right up for me. They both need re-shoed. Especially Dot. I suppose I should be glad their feet are as good as they are. Daddy is going to help me re-shoe them tomorrow
After a bath and lunch I went to the storage units with Glenn and T-Dog. There are 10 buildings. We were able to find farrier supplies in the same storage unit that had the horse trailer. They are the plastic kind that have the resin glue stuff. Fortunately there's an instruction booklet.
I was able to get into Daryls unit but it took about an hour of searching through camping equipment, and a random assortment of junk before I found his lockbox. He has a car in here. The engine was on a stand next to it and the lockbox was in the truck. From his letter I was thinking a different kind of trunk. It's just a metal toolbox. Kind of small and only 5 pounds or so. He only sent me the two keys, one for the lock on the storage unit and one for the trunk. I don't think he will be thrilled if I break into it, but I do wonder what's in there.
I've officially finished Algebra 2. I'll start precalculus if I can find a book. That leads me to wonder, do I really NEED precalculus? Even if things were to go back to normal tomorrow, and I could go back to school I have no idea what I would want to do. I would probably study agriculture and take over the farm. I don't want to do anything lofty or prestigious. I want to stay in one place, have a garden, some chickens and maybe a couple of animals. I used to think about moving to Nashville and singing, but somewhere along the way I guess I decided that I like calm and peaceful instead of bright lights and crowds. I should think and pray and talk to Daddy about it in the morning, when I show him that I'm done with my math book.
Anyhow, its been a busy day. Good night.
Saturday January 20th
Daddy helped me re-shoe the horses. He was surprised with how quickly they have warmed up to me. The shoes were so easy. All we had to do was measure the hoofs to get the right size, and soak the plastic shoes in hot water. After a few minuted we molded them to the hooves and applied the glue stuff. We had to do some prep work to the hooves and file them level and scrape around the frog and sole, put some divots in the nail face and they were good.
I even got to go for a ride. Bull let me saddle him with no problem. He was excited and playful during our short ride, but very well behaved we only did a few laps around the pasture. I didn't want to tire him since I don't know how long it's been since he was ridden last. Then Dot had a turn. Maggie helped me brush them off after. They were pretty skittish around her, but she hasn't spent much time with them. We are going to take them on a real ride tomorrow.
While we worked, Daddy and I discussed my educational options. He agrees that I probably won't need calculus in the future, but he compared it to calisthenics for the brain. When we find a precalculus book, I will get to learn higher math. In the meantime I am getting a bit of summer vacation in the winter.
Daddy thinks that books on orienteering will be more useful than world geography, and psychology and group dynamics would be a good idea too. I know what psychology is, but I'm not sure about group dynamics.
I asked Daddy about learning a bit about birthing and midwifing skills. He chuckled at first until he realized I was serious. I discussed my thoughts on possible outcomes of the adult relations that have been going on, Lorri's previous birth experience and such. I didn't realize he was unaware of Carrol and T-Dog, or Lorri's c-section. He is willing to teach me what he knows about livestock. He isn't sure how well thats going to translate to people though. The general basics are the same, its the complications that he is unsure of.
The biggest difference I can see is that most of the time sheep, and goats, and horses and cows usually do it on their own just fine. Even monkeys are pretty independent with birth. I don't think women can do that alone safely. Human women need help and rest and recovery. Birth after a c-section is especially tricky.
It seems that I have a whole new book list now. If we can get to a community college or university book store I start a new semester of sorts. I'm on the lookout for books about midwifery, precalculus, history, psychology and orienteering. The Sheriff and Lorri want to get Carl some books too. Carl was using Prissy's books when we were at the Haywoods,but doesn't have any books of his own,
In the mean time, Daddy is going to give me a crash course on the reproductive cycles of horses, cows, goats, sheep, dogs and cats. Daddy says that we are only cover the basics. Apparently dogs and cats have Y shaped uteri to accommodate litters. They are long and skinny, the puppies and kittens attach in a row like peas in a pod. Actually, cows, horses, goats and sheep all have Y shaped uteri too, but its to make it easier to cary twins, which they do much more often and successfully than humans most of the time, but they have cycles and hormones similar to humans.
I'm going to get in an early nap. I'm on watch tonight with Maggie.
Sunday January 21st
Watch with Maggie was incredibly anticlimactic. The stars and the view were beautiful over the lake, but around 2 in the morning the fog rolled in and after that we could have been completely over run and wouldn't have noticed until we heard them. Maggie and I had a chance to catch up. I guess she and Glenn are actually really serious. I had figured that Glenn just available and close to her age. I was wrong to think that she was into him because he was there. I didn't realize it but she had actually not dated the entire time she was at University of Georgia. She actually likes him. She has no idea if he feels the same, I don't know if she was trying to hint that I should have a "What are your intentions towards my sister" talk or what. He's kind of awkward. Awkward plus awkward conversation topic would just be cringie. I'll get Daddy to do it. That's his job after all.
Maggie was curious about all my mail. I explained Pauls letter and what had actually happened and at first she was all "How dare he dump you". Until I explained that he just beat me to the punch, with the same reasoning. He was nice enough to write a letter. I was just going to let it go without a word.
I told her that Daryls letter was just a request to retrieve a box I don't even know the contents of. It could be drugs, a bomb or the queens jewels for all I know.
I let her see Old Man Jims card. She was as puzzled as I was about it. All in all I think she was hoping for something juicier, like declarations of undying love and devotion or some such hogwash. Instead I've been declared the least romantic girl she has ever met in my age group. Like I'm going to be swept off my feet by a tall dark and handsome stranger who isn't dead or part of a lawless gang. That comment was what made her think that I'm probably destined to be an old cat lady in 20 years. I doubt I'll be alive in 20 years to become a cat lady.
By the time the sun came up and chased off the fog I was ready for bed and done with girl talk. I went to sleep with the sound of drizzles and woke up to a sunny afternoon.
We had Sunday meeting with Daddy in the afternoon. It was just Daddy, Maggie and Glenn, T-Dog, Carl and I. Its more of a weekly Bible study than anything. Daddy still blesses the sacrament afterward for whoever want's it. Its was nice having a piano in the parlor. I played "I Am a Child Of God" and "Our Saviors Love". It was one of Mama's favorites.
Maggie and I rode along the shore of the lake staying about 20 feet inside the tree line. Bull is a big guy, but a gentle rider. Maggie rode Dot and they seemed to get along well as long as Maggie was content to trot behind Bull. Dot likes to stay at his seven. Every time Maggie tried to lead Dot would get playful and find low hanging branches or brush up against trees. If Bull and I cantered Dot would keep up her trot. I think that they are both kind of out of shape but Dot is positively lazy. They did like being groomed afterwards.
Monday January 22nd
Here I am again with my backpack, and a metal toolbox. Fortunately everyone had followed my lead and has a bug out bag for this type of thing. This type of thing is the house was hit by lightning. We had a gathering place this time too. The summer kitchen. What we hadn't counted on was the fire attracting the kind of attention that it did. We were making plans on where to go incase the smoke attracted a herd of the dead. No such luck though.
Instead we attracted a different kind of attention. I had Carl with me checking on Dot and Bull when the Jeeps and personnel carriers showed up. I decided to go up to the hay loft and fortunately Carl was willing to follow instructions. They didn't do anything too awful that I could see, but I didn't like it. Then they gestured towards the big trucks with their rifles. At this point Maggie and Lorri started protesting and then there was a bit of a commotion. Maggie was escorted to the coop, which really worried me, but she went in alone. When she finally stepped out of it, they loaded the adults into the trucks and left.
After calming Carl down I went to the coop to figure out what Maggie had to go in there for. There was a note in Carl's bug out bag. She must have had it when she went in there. They were being forced to go to a quarantine camp, Daddy and the Sheriff decided that its best if Carl and I stay behind and met them at the storage units, because something seemed off about the men and so far most of the quarantine camps have been closer to death camps. We are going to wait for them at the Storage units, so thats where I am, again. To be specific we are in Daryl's storage unit.
I got Carls and my bug out bags, some supplies and loaded up the horses. Then I Tied Dots lead line to Bulls saddle horn and put Carl in her saddle. He was scared but he did a good job for a first time rider. I didn't bring hay because there's a unit full of it next to Daryl's. I did bring 3 Jugs of water. I will look into retrieving more tomorrow but I may not have to. Its raining so the barrels at the downspouts should have enough for the horses.
Carl was really scared and had a hard time going to sleep, so I told him tales of Merry Old England. The Jellybean Dragon was always my favorite. I got him to crack a grin. After that when I read my scriptures I did it out loud so he could hear them. I gave him the very important job of cranking the flashlight so I could see while I read. I reminded him to offer his bedtime prayers and then I hummed quietly until he went to sleep.
I hope I can keep him safe until everyone gets back. I didn't want him to be scared so I tried to act like everything is going to be okay, but I think this is the most scared I've ever been. I try to believe that people are generally good, but even before everything happened there were a lot of bad people. "Stranger Danger" isn't a new thing. I need to be alert tomorrow so good night.
Tuesday January 23rd
I made an executive decision. Carl and I discussed it and we are going to the Dixons. They have a place were we don't have to worry to much about being discovered. I don't like being alone in charge of a child. I have no weapons or any way defend myself except for an old recurve bow that I'm "borrowing" from Daryl and my buck knife.
I wrote an explanation to Maggie and Daddy and everyone. I switched Carls stuff into a different bag so that I can put Josh's journal and my note in it. If they escape they know to come here and will recognize Carls Pokemon bag and find the note pretty easily. It's a 3 hour drive from the Dixons to what was the bed and breakfast. I'm not sure how far it is by horse. I intend to stay 20-30 feet off the road if I can. I included an itinerary with possible meet up places along the way. I will be leaving my initials and Carls at each check in point we pass. We have our ponchos and I used some cammo tarps to make raincoats for the horses so everything should be okay.
We saw a school Chinese medicine with a clinic and herbal store nearby. It looks deserted, so I'm going see if they had any midwifery books. Most people who do home births and stuff are into natural healing and herbal remedies, so they might have something. Even if I only find books on herbs I will count it as a win. We don't have any antibiotics and other medicine and its just a matter of time before someone gets sick.
We'll probably spend the night there, I just hope we don't find any dead people. At least Carl can use his knife pretty well.
TTFN