Sharecropping The Apocalypse: A Prepper is Cast Adrift (5 page)

“No I haven’t, not yet. I am still strongly thinking about how best to say that and calm everyone down some. You know when desperation reaches its peak people don’t get scared as easy or show any fear to a threat real or not. You can be sure though Julie that he already is trying to hunt some on his own and since we haven’t heard a gunshot from their direction he hasn’t seen shit to shoot at or he would have been popping caps with whatever firearms he has over there. That’s a weird thing by the way that we haven’t heard any shots coming from over to their place. That grandpa of his bragged to me once  that he normally has several deer on the property at 5am and more crossing at sundown everyday, but as you know the deer have changed their normal trails and directions it seems.” David said pondering the possible causation of the lack of gunshots heard from a house where it was normal to occasionally hear something going off occasionally, even if it was nothing else but celebratory gunfire of a few rounds on a holiday.

“You have been saying David that the deer are acting weird anyway, maybe then going to the camps is for them. By the way, I am not going to let you forget that you wouldn’t even allow me to take a shot at that buck standing next to your garden last week.’ Julie said grousing about David’s adamancy not to interfere in any way with the deer on his property normal migration and feeding patterns for awhile because he felt they needed to be undisturbed and not hunted close in until they really needed them.

“I have explained my reasoning on that to you Julie a hundred times over. I cannot monitor the deer’s trails or figure out their numbers if we mess with what they are currently thinking are some safe clear paths this close to the house. What I think has happened to make them so skittish and confused is that these damn hunters around here have pulled out all the stops and are dumping whatever kind of bait or scent they got in their hunting areas to increase the chances of a kill and confusing them with odd smells and signals. The wind and the woods for miles around here are being convoluted with man scent and deer attractant.  The problem with that is if you make an artificial salt lick or a rut you scent away the deer herds from a normally traveled trail. Then it is up to the bucks or odd does that decide most everything’s not right and they make new trails to seek food or avoid danger just like during regular hunting season. The age old traditional forest trails are all convoluted now except the ones running across my property exiting that low lying boggy area in the back of my property down by the creek. We need to keep them trails as is and put nothing like a snare set up to molest them or even so much as put out a bait to guide them elsewhere for now. We have got ourselves plenty of stored food for a good period of time and like I told you, in deer terms we are thought of as an island of safety or recuperation in these stressful hunting times. Not hunting them now will payoff for us in spades later.” David said remembering Julie’s excitement to protect the garden as well as put some fresh meat on the table and prove to her and her man that she was fully capable of ranger living and bagging a deer all by herself.

She had begrudgingly lowered her gun on what would have been her first deer and in her opinion could have performed a major supportive accomplishment to “prepper shack” by adding some game meat to their diets when David had unexpectedly put a hand on her weapon and spoiled her exuberance with a hushed admonishment to “let it pass.’ The deer had noticed them watching her, but the buck had retreated unhurriedly away from their presence.

Julie more than understood that animals were going to be soon hunted to darn near extinction like David had pointed out history had proven in prior disastrous hard times during the depression. However, she still longed for the missed opportunity to make the kill and fumed over the loss of food she would have been able to provide for them.

David had assured her many times over that by her being patient and not taking that “proving or being helpful shot” was a very wise and good thing she had done. Not insisting on taking that shot was paramount to their survival and that Julie had more than fulfilled her duty to “Prepper Shack” by using good judgment. She still retained some regrets and animosity towards David for not taking her prize, but she understood and was soon over it he thought.

“Hell! I bet David is now going to go give a bit of expert advice to the guy across the street on how to take a deer for the pot and he would probably shoot the one David had told her to let pass. Dang David!  No matter how much she understood his reasoning for not shooting that deer she had in her sights it still irked her no end. That big buck had been right there in front of her and it would have been so easy!   Humpf! Now after all that David was now asking her advice about giving away some more of their storage food to this couple who would be most likely shooting her deer tomorrow!” Julie fumed trying to evaluate it all.

That for some reason David had some kind of hunters natural innate or odd understanding with the deer was a given. He might not have hunted deer nor had the desire to in years, but he kept good track of the herds around his area. When they first met David had taken great joy in explaining to her how to read the faint tracks on the trails the deer used as they traveled criss-crossing trails on his property. David could tell you by the clock what time you could observe a deer slinking through the forest and pretty much exactly where it would appear on his little spread. He also messed with the deer by occasionally chunking a pine cone at them or something else suitable like a rotten stick if they got too brave or familiar when he was present and they didn’t politely retreat back to the woods after checking him out. He wanted the deer to not get to familiar with humans for their own safety.

It was that testosterone induced “No Worries” attitude of his that caused Julie so much frustration as well as intrigue with him.

A large graceful brown doe that David had shown her a time or two before had been known to be seen standing just outside his garden in midwinter at four in the afternoon as the sun started to go down before he corrected the animal’s s too close for comfort behavior. David had told her on the phone of this magical sighting occurrence more than once. But her not being a country girl and because of David’s penchant for playing jokes, she had never taken his clockwork sightings seriously. That is, until over a couple days he had proved it up to her twice for her own eyes joy and amazement to see this forest creature going about its natural state of affairs like it had its own way of telling time.

David had gestured slowly towards her as he put his finger to his lips to indicate for her to be silent and then showed her out the front door of his house and pointed carefully towards one corner of the fenced enclosure of his little raised bed garden. There it was! Julie thought as she beheld the wild deer’s magnificent beauty and her and David shared a wonderful Mother Nature moment.

“Calm! Be very calm Julie; don’t even think how exciting or lovely the deer is. Watch; just observe this forest being casually. Don’t talk to the deer except with your mind. We see each other and it’s Ok. No harm no ill will by our meeting, but wish with your mind that she leaves us for now. Watch her, your mind moved her and now she is nervous and scared and wants to take the first way out. David had whispered softly.

See the fence?  See how it’s bent down in some areas? That’s where a panic exit by another deer had hit it a week earlier. Look now; look at her feeling our intents. A graceful leap and a clearing of the wire and a non destructive understanding of deer nervousness and humans had occurred.

“Hey Lady, by the way I ain`t the only one around here that can piss around fence posts to “Claim” space in the natural world by the way. You got your own plumbing to help out with the task of keeping critters away; yours just don’t aim as well as mine.” David said chuckling and reminding her that pissing around the backyard was not only a convenience but a duty at prepper shack and that lady like ways could be forgotten now as it was important to deter animals from the garden...

“I have been telling you all along Julie why I don’t need 10 ft fences to keep them deer or other critters out.  I only need to be actively patrolling around the place more and mark my territory the same as the other animals, or it helps to be around and watching to war on the ones that don’t take the nature’s way of subtle or unsubtle suggestions to avoid an area.” David advised thinking about remedying any animal that tried to snub his claims on who was allowed around his gardens.

“You remember Julie; I showed you that deer scrape the other day in the middle of my orchard where I tried that experiment of raising vegetables out of a hay bale?  That bale stayed intact and unmolested all summer and was producing yellow squash well before the drought hit. Then midwinter arrived and that big buck and his harem of does pawed it down ate most all of it in what looked like a feeding frenzy and then he left a big scrape to challenge any other male in the area. I pissed on his scrape and dug in the dirt a bit myself and left the message for him to indicate I claimed it as ‘MINE! No deer allowed this was my scary male human path they were messing with and so they diverted 30 ft away following on new trail but were still regularly using my road crossing. A week later they were back to where I wasn’t following up with “claiming” game and munched my lime tree because the game had now changed in their eyes and noses and I had not been around to mark or tromp up the trails.” David said flustered his analogy didn’t seem to be going anywhere.

“Well if I had of shot that deer those neighbors wouldn’t be on our door step so soon wanting food and you wouldn’t be asking me what to do with that couple outside” Julie jabbed back at him but then gave him a big hug and wistful eyes to acknowledge his plans might need support and considerations that she had yet to realize and waited on his kind reactions.

“Honey, I can’t say your right or that I am wrong at the moment darling, but it might help us to look a bit crazy when we go out to talk to them.” David declared while fidgeting with the pistol he insisted on strapping on two weeks ago to alleviate his sense of vulnerability or for increased security he didn’t know which.

“I believe you got that line of thinking covered already. You already got that crazy look about you David; lighten up a bit and relax some if you can. I can see your cautions but let’s try not to be looking so fierce today. I will back you up and tell Sally in no uncertain terms they got to talk to you about working some fields and doing some hunting if they expect morsel one from us from now on.” Julie said patting David assuredly who just said “Damn’ and tried not to fidget further with his holster.

“Come on girl we might as well wing this thing and get it over with.” David said after his exclamation and made a point to have his own shotgun in hand for looks sake.

Once outside, David looked over at the couple looking at them google eyed like aggressive lost sheep sitting at his picnic table waiting for the outcome of the mysterious discussion that had went on inside his home. Sally noted the casual way Julie was toting a wicked pistol handled shotgun they had not seen before but things seemed ok as she beamed her normal infectious smile.

“Greetings!! You all doing well?” Julie said giving them brief each one handed hugs while still holding the shotgun as David regarded them with a more reserved standoffish sort of alert scrutiny.

“Hey man David, why all the hardware? Are you that worried about us? I didn’t mean anything by calling you a Doomsday Prepper” Will said eying all the guns and he hoped Julies friendly greeting might have some influence on David’s suspicious and aggressive nature.

“No I am not particularly worried about you, we started carrying guns a week ago just as a precaution and you never know when you might see some game. Anyway, I told you Julie and I had to get in agreement on our food stores and this time you’re in luck Willie.” David said as happy as a clam that his one handed grip on his own shotgun made everyone a bit nervous as he looked at their eyes when its barrel accidentally pointed in their direction. He mumbled an apology and adjusted it to point up and down range.

Nobody felt right about this meeting and you could cut the tension in the air with a knife as David and Julie settled down at the table and propped their long guns against it just out of reach of the self-assuming neighbor’s, but still handy enough for themselves to get to.

Both Julie and David wore pistols on their belts that they could also access easily. They seemed very at ease with their surroundings and armaments while David’s “Devil may care” attitude and too familiar handling of his shotgun sort of unnerved the neighboring couple.

“Willard and Sally there is something you need to realize before I give you any more food. We are giving you something to eat don’t worry. This world we find ourselves living in has gotten really mean and really crazy. I mean absolutely topsy turvy evil and maniacal crazy and regardless of what you believe are the causes of this blackout and who were the participants, we live in a world where anything can and will happen. You best be deciding where your best chances of long term survival lay and be working on heading in that direction if you don’t already have the supplies to hang on here and I will tell you why if you will give me a few minutes.” David advised and then looked to the couple for permission to speak further.