Sharecropping The Apocalypse: A Prepper is Cast Adrift (38 page)

4

CRICK`S HOUSE

This sure is one crazy note he left for us Julie” David said handing it to her.

David,

Glad you made it here safe; sorry I couldn’t be here to welcome you. Make yourself to home but we need to meet up as soon as we can. Rescue efforts by me and Loomis are taking place at the Mc Cloud Plantation about 20 miles from here. Be sure to announce yourself loudly when you enter the property. The property caretakers Clem and Bertha carry guns and are very suspicious of strangers but I have warned them that you might be coming. I drew you a map on the back of this note. No problems to report, thanks for coming. Be safe.

Regards,

Crick

“Well he certainly didn’t tell you much or why you are here” Julie said handing it back to him after a quick look at the map.

“I could have used a bit more info but I guess what could he really say? He and Loomis are conducting the rescue effort so that means no official efforts underway or offered. I sure would like to know what he plans on doing with all them folks once they get off that island. I guess it doesn’t matter much at the moment, just getting them off there is an undertaking in itself.” David said looking in Cricks kitchen pantry out of curiosity.

“Well he said meet him at a plantation so maybe they have lots of food for the survivors.” Julie guessed.

“I hope they do but he didn’t make mention of it so I have my doubts. That could be a pine plantation, cotton or peanut plantations etc. so your guess is about as good as mine. It doesn’t look like he has depleted his pantry by a whole lot though whatever that means. Hang on a minute, ah hell yea! His liquor cabinet is still full, hot damn! Want a drink Julie? Crick won’t mind and I will let him sample my moonshine when we hook up.” David said picking up an open liter of coke and shaking it to see if it still had some fizz left in it.

“I would love one, sounds good. What is our schedule today David?’ ‘Julie asked as David played bartender.

‘I guess we have ourselves a few drinks, relax from the trip for a short bit and head on over to the plantation. I figure we can stay here for about an hour and make it over to meet Crick at about 3.30 or so this afternoon. Plenty of daylight will still be left “David said relishing the taste of his adult beverage.

“Sounds good to me, that trip was nerve wracking and tiring.” Julie said settling down into a comfortable chair with a sigh.

“I want to check on Crick’s horses before we leave. I don’t guess he wants me to bring anything from here or feed them or he would have put it in his note. David said sitting down upon the couch.

“Well it’s not that far to the plantation so I guess if he needs it he can come back himself and get it. Hey I haven’t tried his phone for service yet.” Julie said going over to it and picking up the receiver.

“Well it’s not dead but there is nothing but static on the line. “ Julie said pushing the button to hang it up several times and listening for any kind of dial tone.

“That’s something anyway; some signal beats no signal I guess. Maybe they will get it fixed soon if they got power on the line.” David responded.

“You never realize how much you miss having communication until you lose it.” Julie said while going to the window to look at the horses grazing.

“Normal conversations and touching base with others is reassuring, but what is heart rending is the number of people wanting to, or needing to call for help and that are cutoff. That kind of misery is only amplified and exasperated by the feeling of forlornness those people will be feeling now as they attempt to reach out to unknown neighbors and struggling friends that have no choice but to distance themselves from the chaos and dependency of others.” David said putting his arm around Julie and looking out the window with her.

“David I have a question for you. Do people you have known just all of the sudden pop into your mind and make you wonder how they are doing?” Julie said looking up at him.

“Yea that happens more often than I care to think about. Damn depressing. I try not to think too much on that subject though; their futility tends to fuel my own self-doubts about self-preservation and how hard my heart might need to be getting in order to survive myself.” David sighed.

“I kind of figured that, when this crap first hit it was more of an adventure even though we were pretty well prepped for it. I still get satisfaction out of how well we were able to respond to the loss of power and grocery stores etc. but it scares me to death how fast we are going through preps and energy and this apocalypse is now only beginning to get crazier. You said a huge amount of people are already evidencing dark and animalistic behaviors, will we get that way too David?” Julie said with a shudder.

“No sweetie, well not like others anyway. We have hope, knowledge, skills and tools to see us through when the last crumb of food preps is used up and that’s why we will retain much of our humanity. I haven’t brought this up yet but there are a few things we need to go over before we join in on Crick and Loomis’s rescue efforts.” David said and told her they needed to sit down and have another drink and talk a few things out further.

David poured them two more drinks a bit stiffer than the last and settled down at the dining room table across from Julie and studied her a moment before telling her what needed to be said.

“Julie we were very lucky indeed not to run into too many people on the way here but there are a few reasons for that which we need to discuss. Now I know we went over a little bit about what we would do if we saw a family with kids stranded on the side of the road and how we might handle someone trying a road block to rob us, but shit is actually much more worse than that and I need to make you even more cautious and aware.” David said taking a big swig of his drink and deciding it was going to take more than two drinks before they were ready to face what was coming next.

“The main reason we didn’t see very many folks out on the road is that they are sick or they are trying to tend to those sicker or weaker than themselves or already dead. Much of the populace is already dead or dying from medical issues and the living are in fear of their own shadows at the moment. If you have water but no food you can still be wandering around after 30 days searching for or sustaining yourself with practically anything for food. People will be eating grass, bugs, pets, maybe even thinking about eating each other about now if they haven’t lost the will to live and committed suicide and that’s a funny thing. Mental illness will come to those who have never experienced it in some cases; it will be enhanced in those that lack the medication for preexisting conditions. The weak minded, acutely depressed or desperate might choose suicide; the criminally intent will increase their level of violence and discard for the physically weaker, the unprepared and unaware will seek the security and sanctity of their homes and mentally shutoff and play hermit awhile, most folks will think they have to do something but not knowing what exactly that something is, will venture out into a world that is unrecognizable and not governed by the rule of law or mercy and they will soon expire or become as lawless as the rest.

Good people are at an extreme disadvantage under such dire conditions, the law of the jungle is an obscure thought to them at first. They will form bad alliances, make stupid mistakes, wait too long, surrender too much and be absorbed into the dust of the earth eventually as just one more statistic as the cruel and the strong war on others. Then when the wolf packs start forming up, at first the packs are large and the prey is easy. As the prey lessens internal strife, disputes with other packs, leadership role challenges and a host of other influences will lessen their numbers. The hunter and the hunted change roles daily, the people in Law enforcement that supposedly are there to protect and serve quit their official duties and become a force of oppression to be dealt with as they try to wield their power to support their own and their families. Soldiers and police officers desert their posts, the populace revolts and follows the first charismatic leader that steps up as the religious minded does the same with prophecies of the end times causing more insanity and bloodshed.

This holocaust of humanity is just now starting to gain momentum however and the dark ages haven’t even begun yet in totality. People with power, governments and state agencies never relinquish control without a fight and they have been planning on events such as these because they fear the populace ever finding out that they were the actual ones that created such mayhem and plan accordingly to brutally suppress any threat to their seats of power and control. Throughout history they have wielded their armies and the best minds they can find to advise them how to both appease as well as how to subjugate the common man to their maniacal intents.

“Julie, we met a lot of folks at Prepper Stock last year and they all were the best of the best in my opinion. You know I have been playing with preppers and either teaching them or learning from them before the name was even being coined by the major media. At first it was like hippie days of an awakening of millions to go back to living off the earth and regaining personal freedoms. They changed a lot but those idealistic thoughts hit reality’s and now the majority leading the country has short hair and  different values and won’t even admit to being one at one time in their life in order to chase the all mighty dollar.

5

CHICKEN THIEVES

David and Julie approached what they thought was the entrance to the McCloud plantation and turned on to a red clay rutted weed overgrown road.

“David, are you sure this is the right turnoff? Doesn’t look like any plantation I ever saw.”  Julie questioned.

“You’re the one navigating and reading Crick’s directions. We’ll travel down this road a bit and see where it’s goes.” David said eyeing the scrub oak and pine woods on both side s of the road.

“David he didn’t say what kind of plantation it was.” Julie said looking at the edge of the second growth fields.

“”Looks like we got some cleared land coming up.” Davis said as they rounded a curve and saw what appeared to be fields that had not been worked in years.

For as far as the eye could see in several directions, a rolling plain of pasture grass, scrub oaks, bushes and fences in general neglect met their eyes.

“What’s that over there by that old barn looking thing? Looks like there might be some more old buildings or something.” Julie said pointing off in the distance at a rickety array of outbuildings and a few old whitewashed shacks.

“I don’t know. I guess we head over there first; it’s the closest thing that looks like civilization back there. This might be a plantation but I’ll be damned if anybody’s worked this part of it in years.” David said looking at fresh tire tracks in the red clay soil.

“Someone has been down here recently. A truck and a tractor have been through this way not too long ago it appears.” David said as they made their way down to the farm buildings.

“Look David, that one house over there with the porch on it looks like it has a bit of fresh paint on it compared to the others. The rest of them places look like they will be falling down pretty soon. Maybe that’s the one where Clem and Bertha live.” Julie said looking around at the ramshackle buildings.

“Shit, Julie, Crick should have said we were going to tobacco road! These damn places look like old sharecropper shacks or slave quarters from a bygone era. But evidently someone’s painted that one house in the last ten years or so.” David said looking at the disarray of buildings in front of him.

“Damn sure smells like they got farm animals around here.” Julie said testing the breeze out of the rolled down windows of the vehicle they were riding in.

“Yea, it smells like a working farm to me.” David said grinning and honking the horn to alert the people who lived there that somebody was coming for a visit.

David and Julie pulled up in front of the old wood frame tiny shotgun style house and honked the horn again looking around for any signs of its occupant’s whereabouts. They looked and listened some more and heard nothing more than a jackass braying and what sounded like a cow having itself a conniption fit about something.

“Well, they definitely got farm critters but I don’t see any vehicles around here. Doesn’t look to me like anybody’s at home at the moment Julie.” David said opening up his door and pointing his shotgun at the ready and looking around further for any signs of life at the place.

“They might be in the back. Sounds like some kind of commotion going on in that barnyard.” Julie said opening her door and holding her 20 gauge single shot shotgun in a one-handed position.

“Julie I’m going to walk around to the backyard and see if anyone’s about. You stay up here and see if anyone comes up. I’m going to walk carefully around the house and see what all that commotion is in the barnyard and you be on your guard and haul ass out of here if you have to. Now before you say it, just back the van out and haul ass out of here if you have to because I have no idea what’s going on back there.” David said admonishing her not to hang around to back him up and him having to be worried about her instead of hauling ass himself or engaging a target if he needed to.

Understanding David’s warning and his nagging at her to escape in the van if need be, warred with her own desire to want to back him up anyway, Julie agreed to stay where she was at in order to placate David and watched as he made his way surreptitiously moving from cover to cover towards the backyard to see what had riled the animals back there.

“HEY! COME HERE! I DON’T MEAN YOU ANY HARM!” David yelled when he was half way around the building after he spied a blur of faded blue jeans with holes and a worn-out blue cotton shirt running from the chicken coop.

“David are you all right?” Julie called to David’s back observing whatever it was he was hollering at.

“I’m fine! Hey, come on back here buddy! We don’t mean no harm! Are you Clem? Are you Bertha? Crick sent us!” David yelled confused as to the gender of the disappearing shadow in the woods.

David surveyed the old barn and corral that had a mule defiantly braying at him and eyeing wherever the other person had left to while a skittish cow poked her head out of the barn and occasionally mooed her dismay. A giant African fighting rooster was strutting his stuff backwards and forwards by the barn while the hens and biddies alternately pecked the ground while occasionally cocking their heads to look around nervously.

David stood up tall and watched the wood line looking for the apparition he had seen leaving the chicken coop running while he glanced around the barnyard to see what had the animals still upset.

“Hey you crazy old ana-mule, be you a Jack or Jenny to be making such a fuss? Hush now you mule! Mooo to you to cow! You need hush yourself also so I can hear what’s going on! Get back over there you danged old ugly rooster.” David was saying before a quick glance over his shoulder showed him that Julie was creeping up in back of him.

“I thought we agreed that you were supposed to stay in the car and leave out of here post haste if there was any trouble.” David said halfheartedly as Julie carefully approached his position with her gun at the ready all the while looking about and listening to the farm creatures complaining about something.

“I don’t know what these animals are complaining so much about yet, but whoever was here a few minutes ago has hightailed it for the woods and I can’t tell you very much about them except they move awful dang quick.” David said still looking in the general direction towards the area that he had seen they had disappeared to.

“I caught a glimpse of a leg going into that thicket of bushes but that’s about all David.” Julie said not letting her guard or her weapon down.

“So what should we do now David? Who do you think that it was anyway?” Julie asked glancing at David nervously.

“I guess it was whoever owns the damn place or whoever lives here. I know they should have heard my horn as we were coming in earlier, why they didn’t stand their ground and holler back to us I have no idea. I don’t even know if we’re on the right piece of land or not. This looks like it was some kind of old timey plantation or sharecropper set up in the past I guess. Damn Crick was kind of sparse on his description of the place he wanted to meet us at. Let’s go back up to the front porch and check the house and I guess we sit around and wait until whoever that was gets their nerve up and comes back or decides we’re safe and hollers up to us from the woods.” David said turning and walking back towards the front of the house with Julie.

“That road keeps going a ways it looks like David. Do you think that Crick might be staying further down this road and we haven’t arrived at where we’re supposed to be at yet? “Julie questioned looking at the well-worn tire ruts in the red clay and gray gravel road leading away.

“Hell I don’t know. That idea does make some sense though I think, not much we can do sitting around here but wait on who knows what. Yea come on Julie let’s go ahead and ride on up there and check out what we find at its end, we can always comeback here. We definitely scared off whoever that was from this place. I still can’t figure it out. Crick said Clem and Bertha would be expecting us, just for us to be aware of them toting guns so we didn’t scare them or ourselves I guess. But whoever that was didn’t even take any time to stop and be sociable or look like they had a mind to be defending their property for that matter.” David said still narrowly all the while eyeing the fringes of the woods for any kind of suggestion of movement.

David and Julie got back in the van with several wary looks around and then slowly backed out to proceed on down the road towards a hill that looked like it had other outbuildings and structures on it.

David stopped the car on the top of the hill and eyed a dilapidated couple of houses with one more recently painted one that looked a lot more habitable than the rest.

“Same thing here for a lay out, just one house a little better than the rest and the others looking like they’re about to fall down. Somebody’s is definitely living over here however; the same as the last place but this house looks a lot bigger. Hopefully they’re not as skittish about receiving guests.” David said once more honking his horn in announcement of his pending arrival as he headed toward the larger house with a big wrap around rail sided porch with a huge old weathered barn in the back.

“Doesn’t appear to be anybody at home at this place either, this is kind of freaky to me David.” Julie said looking for any movement or signs of life around the place.

“I am thinking the same thing Julie. I’ll go to the door and knock first this time and you can hang back and go back to the barn with me later.” David said shrugging and wondering exactly what was going on and where in the hell exactly was everybody at that lived around here.

A firmly locked and unanswered door greeted him and his quick perusal of the property gave him no more indications than some tire tracks coming and going in the direction they had already traveled.

Julie and he went back to the porch and sat down on two old white steel garden chairs in silence for a moment, occasionally glancing around curiously at the untilled and overgrown pastures and row crop fields.

“Well Julie I have no idea where Crick and crew are at, I guess we just sit here and wait until someone makes an appearance. Maybe who ever that was I glimpsed at that other house will go find the residents around here and come to greet us as a group eventually.” David said pondering the odd disappearance of the raggedy figure he had seen running for the woods.

“Yea that was pretty strange of whoever that was just to up and disappearing like that without a word. You would think if it was someone who was expecting us that they wouldn’t have got scared off like that.” Julie said speculatively.

“That’s just what I am thinking. Crick’s note warned us to expect the residents of this place to maybe be pointing a gun in our direction and whoever that was just beat feet and didn’t even bother to look back over their shoulder. Evidently they just had nothing but escape on their minds, might even have been a prowler or a thief you think Julie?” David said evidencing his concerns and probably wanting to go back to the other house for a further look see.

“That thought had crossed my mind David, but do you think maybe that it could be that they were just either plain scared, or possibly they could have been rushing to go inform somebody that strangers were about the place. What do you want to do now David? Stay here or should we go on back to the other house?” Julie said anticipating David’s decision to return to the other house and try to solve the mystery in order to look around the grounds and barnyard a bit more for signs of mischief or a break in at the main residence.

“Let’s just sit ourselves down here for a bit longer Julie and wait awhile to talk things out a bit more before we start heading back down there so soon. It’s so weird operating under these conditions, I am dying to try all the doorknobs and windows to see if any of these houses are open or not and get a quick look around to see if I can see any signs of Crick or Loomis but on the same note I don’t want to start out on the wrong foot with anyone around here by assuming I can just walk in a door or climb in a window without a proper invitation. Folks could be sitting off in the woods right now watching us and seeing how we act with other folk’s property when no one else is present you know.’ David said warningly and then began once again carefully scanning the wood line in front and to the sides of him as well as keeping an eye on the road leading here.

“Shit David, I see your point of caution but you didn’t have to go and give me the hebee jeebies now about worrying about the idea that their maybe watchers in the woods. Crick said we were invited to this place and that we would be expected by its residents so I was happy that we had finally arrived and I could relax some and quit being so much on edge with all you’re reminding me of a battle drill we needed to be thinking on. I am tired David, damn tired and more than a bit afraid of all this unknown we are living through. I know why we came here and I totally agree with you that we needed to come to this place, but I can’t help thinking for the life of me that we should of never left our home to begin with and stayed at home where it was safer.” Julie said a bit emotionally and welcomed David’s hug of reassurance and love that things would turn out all right somehow.

“It will be alright Julie, we just got to hang in here and wait. I am guessing Crick and his friends are down by the river somewhere working on a rescue of some kind but I will be danged if I know what he might have dreamed up to accomplish one or what his plans are after he gets done doing it. I know I shouldn’t, but I can’t think of anything better to do than kickback and have myself a drink while waiting on him to show up. You want one Julie, a little toddy for the body darlin?” David said rising and heading for the van and supplies to make one.