The Liddy Scenario (7 page)

“Ranger is right, Ms. Baumgartner. I have supplies for another month for the three of us, but it could be many months… even years… before the city is safe again.”

“But what would I do? I can’t live off you. It’s not right.”

“You have two good hands and a head on your shoulders. Will mean helping out on a working farm, but I believe you could handle it,” Ranger said.

Brody was nodding. “Toby will find a spot for you at his place, if you’re with us.”

“Who is this Toby? Where does he live?”

“He’s in the more rural area outside the city about fifty miles,” Ranger said.

“Has a primitive farm. Kind of like the Amish, but he’s not Amish,” Brody explained.

Ranger added a little more. “Farms. with horses and oxen. Has a huge garden and a couple of greenhouses. Milk cows, pigs, chickens. Real old fashioned operation. We sometimes go out during harvest and lend a hand.”

“Toby lets us keep supplies there,” Brody said. “Does several of us preppers. We consider it our Retreat, though it belongs completely to Toby. He keeps the place going on minimums just to make a living, but the place will support quite a few of us, if we all help.”

“And you say I would be welcome? I’m not a prepper, the way you are. I don’t have anything to offer,” Julie Anne said.

Both men could see she was wavering, but hated the idea of charity. Ranger addressed the idea directly. “Believe me, it wouldn’t be charity. You would be working every day, except Sunday. Only the absolute necessary things are done on Sundays. Toby is big on observing the Sabbath.”

Brody added his thoughts, “Cooking, washing, cleaning… You’re a management type. You could help with the books and record keeping. There is a lot of it, because Toby has a very precise breeding plan for all his animals. He does all that himself, now.”

“What if the place is full when we get there?” Julie Anne asked. “You said there are several of you. Won’t they all be there, if that was the main plan?”

“We have reserved spots,” Ranger said. “That included Brody and me, and a companion each.”

“Oh. I see,” Julie Anne said, frowning slightly. “You understand that I don’t plan on being anyone’s companion, don’t you?”

“Of course,” Brody quickly said.

Ranger agreed just as quickly. “But since neither of us have anyone, that means there is space and supplies for you.”

Julie Anne sighed. “I don’t think I could survive on my own. Do you think we’ll be able to make it, with things going the way they are?”

“We’ll make it,” Ranger said, rather grimly, Julie Anne thought. “If we’re going, let’s get to it,” he added.

“First we consolidate the supplies. I think we can take everything be-tween us we have left.” Brody looked over at Julie Anne. “Anything else in your apartment you need?”

She shook her head.

“Ranger?”

“Nope. I left the house the other day without expecting to come back for a long time.”

“Then let’s get to it.”

It took three hours to get everything rearranged and loaded into Brody’s truck. Julie Anne said nothing when Ranger and Brody came down with the last load, wearing handguns, with long arms. slung over their shoulders.

“I’m going to top off the fuel,” Brody said when they were in the cab of the truck and he’d started the engine.

“It’s on the way, anyway,” Ranger said. He chambered a round in his Bushmaster M-4 carbine, and held the carbine with the barrel just slightly out the window on his side of the truck.

Brody had put his rifle behind the seat when he got in the truck, but he took the pistol from the holster on his hip and stuck the barrel between the seat and seat back so he could get it if needed.

There was no trouble on the way to the cemetery. Brody was fueling the truck from the cemetery tank when he said, “I’m filling all three tanks, this time. I’d like to take some more. I saw a couple of drums. in the gar-age, Ranger. See if one of them would work for fuel. We have just enough room, I think.”

“You’re not going to believe this,” Ranger said, coming back outside, a big grin on his face. “One of the drums. is almost full of gasoline and there is a transfer tote full. For the weed eaters and lawn mowers I guess. Never thought to check it out, before.”

“They’re nuts storing gasoline like that!” Brody said.

“May be nuts, but it turns out to be our advantage. I’m going to fill my rig, and Julie Anne’s. We can take all three. Give us some back up if there is trouble.”

“Ms. Baumgartner?” Brody asked. “You up to a convoy with us?”

“I’m not real sure about doing this…”

“The fuel, you mean?”

“Yes.”

“Consider it back pay,” Ranger said. He was coming out of the garage with the wheeled tote. He headed for the parking lot. “Your keys?” he asked, stopping by Julie Anne.

“Very well,” she said and handed Ranger the keys to her hybrid.

It took Ranger five trips with the tote to fill both gasoline vehicles. Like Brody, he had three tanks on his pickup. The drum was empty, but the tote was full when he’d finished. Brody helped Ranger load it up and se-cure it in Ranger’s pickup. “You want to move some stuff from your truck to mine?” Ranger asked.

Brody shook his head. “No. I want to get out of here.”

“Okay. Let’s load that empty drum and fill it with diesel.”

Julie Anne was keeping an eye on the entrance of the cemetery, as asked, though she doubted anyone would be coming here, considering the circumstances. With the drum in Brody’s truck loaded and filled, the three huddled together.

Brody and Ranger showed Julie Anne the route on a map she had in her car, so she could find it if they got separated for some reason. “Ranger, take it easy. We want to move, but Julie Anne isn’t experienced in convoy work. I’ll bring up the rear.”

“Got it,” Ranger said. “But if we hit trouble before seeing it, you know the drill. Bull through it at high speed, guns blazing.”

“That was what you did this morning,” Julie Anne said, looking at Brody. “Only you didn’t have guns.”

“Oh,” Ranger said, “I had one, but just a pistol, and Brody got us out of there too, sweet.” Ranger touched the rifle slung on his shoulder,” the next time, if there is a next time, it’ll be different.”

Julie Anne shivered at the vehemence in Ranger’s voice. She was nervous at first, following Ranger out of the cemetery parking lot. But he made it easy on her, signaling well ahead of turns, and going a modest speed.

It turned out to be an uneventful ride. They saw a few people, but all at a distance. Julie Anne thought that several were armed, but she couldn’t be sure. She stopped behind Ranger’s truck when he stopped at an in-nocuous looking gate on a gravel road just off a country road, out in the rural area southwest of the city.

Ranger just sat there for what seemed to Julie Anne to be an interminable time. But since Ranger was waiting patiently, and Brody was too, behind her, she just tapped the steering wheel in time with the music on the CD she was playing. It was nice in the car, since she had plenty of fuel at the moment, she’d run the air conditioning the whole time they were on the road. She felt a bit guilty at doing so, but the cool air felt wonderful after days without it. Brody hadn’t run the AC in his truck when they were working, to save fuel.

Finally someone came out of the woods the gravel road was cut through, startling Julie Anne, since he seemed suddenly just there. The man waved at Ranger and then unlocked and opened the gate to let the three vehicles through.

The man looked at Julie Anne curiously, but simply waved her on. Brody came through the gate after her and the man closed and relocked it. Brody waited for the man to come up and get in the cab of the truck with him before he followed Julie Anne up the road.

She parked beside Ranger when he stopped the truck alongside another non-descript pickup parked on a gravel parking lot. Brody pulled in be-side her and all exited their vehicles. Brody motioned Julie Anne over to join him and the man that had opened the gate.

“Ms. Baumgartner, this is Toby Green, owner of this farm.”

“How do, Miss?” Toby, asked, touching the brim of his wide hat. Julie Anne quickly decided it wasn’t worth the effort to correct him over the Miss and Ms..

“Hello,” she said, holding out her hand. “I hope I’m not intruding. Brody said it was all right if I tagged along.”

“Sure ‘nough,” replied Toby, taking her hand for a quick shake and re-lease. “We still have a lot of room. Only a few of the guys have shown up. Kinda surprising. I was expecting more.” He looked over at Brody. “You seen or heard from Katrina and Patrick?”

Brody shook his head. “Just me and the Ranger,” he replied. “Who else is here?”

Toby ran through a string of names that Julie Anne knew she wouldn’t remember until she met the people attached to them.

“Okay. Let’s get you settled,” Toby said. “You have luggage, Miss Baumgartner?”

Julie Anne nodded and moved over to Brody’s truck. Brody and Ranger handed the two suitcases out. Toby took the big one, but let Julie Anne carry the smaller. “You’ll be up in the house with the other unattached ladies,” Toby told her and headed off toward the building that Julie Anne took to be the house.

“What about Brody and Ranger?” she asked, picking up her pace a bit to keep up with Toby.

“Ranger will take a bunk in the bunk house. Brody has a trailer out in the woods where he stays when he’s here.”

“I see. I want to thank you for allowing me to stay during this… whatever it is.”

“Pure old disaster, if you ask me. The old balloon went up big time. Thought we’d be at war first, but this is just as bad. Them terrorists sure knew what they were doing when they took out the infrastructure. How bad was it in the city?”

Julie Anne’s face told much of the story to Toby. “Bad, huh?” he asked before she spoke.

“Very bad. We tried so hard…” Feeling safe now, Julie Anne was having a hard time keeping the emotion in check.

“Yeah. Brody would. Little surprised the Ranger helped out.”

“You know what we were doing?” Julie Anne asked in surprise, getting her emotions under control enough not to start crying.

“No. Just that Brody would be doing anything he could to help. What was it you do that he was helping with?”

“Burials. I’m the City Cemetery Administrator. My two people left and Brody said he’d help and then he called Ranger and he helped, too. I got them some gear and fuel and a little silver, but they just kept working when that all ran out and they had to use their own supplies and they took care of me, and…”

“Easy there, girl,” Toby said, as Julie Anne’s words came faster and faster and began to edge into hysteria.

Julie Anne took a few deep breaths to calm herself down. They were at the house and Toby led the way inside. They were immediately met by a short, heavyset woman that turned out to be Toby’s wife, Patricia.

“This is Miss Julie Anne Baumgartner. She came in with Brody and the Ranger,” Toby said, to introduce them. “My wife, Patricia. You’ll be helping her out where you can.”

“I’m sure that Brody told you there would be work here,” Patricia said, taking the large suitcase from Toby. “No idle hands on this farm. No siree. Idle hands lead to bad things. Come along up the stairs, young miss. We’ll get you settled right in. And then there is work to do.”

Rather at a loss as what to do or say, Julie Anne followed along silently. Patricia stopped in front of one of several doors lining the hallway in the second story of the house. “You’ll be sharing with Darlene. Baths are both down the hall. Darlene uses the bed on the left as you go in. Plenty of hangers and you have half the drawers. Laundry is on Mondays. Get settled in and come on down to the kitchen. I’m sure you can find it.”

Patricia set down the suitcase she had carried just inside the door and turned and left, leaving Julie Anne to her own devices. It hadn’t occurred to her that she would be sharing a room. “Beggars can’t be choosers,” she said and went about unpacking after exploring and using the bathroom.

The bedroom was neat as a pin, and Julie Anne felt quite comfortable. There didn’t seem to be any air conditioning running, as the windows were open, but it was comfortable in the room.

Everything put away, with a tiny bit of room to spare, Julie Anne went downstairs. It wasn’t hard to find the kitchen. Delicious smells were coming from it. When she entered Patricia and two other women, much younger than their hostess, were working. It seemed to be bread baking day. There were pans cooling, pans in the oven, pans of dough rising, and more dough being worked. By hand, Julie Anne noticed.

“This is Julie Anne. She’s new to all of this,” Patricia told the other women. “This is Peg and Samantha.”

Julie Anne acknowledged the introductions, foregoing handshakes as both women’s hands were covered in flour in one case, and bread dough in the other.

“Wash up,” Patricia said. “You’ll be helping Peg knead dough.”

“Is there enough water?” Julie Anne asked automatically.

“Of course. Good well water,” Patricia told her.

Julie Anne felt a bit embarrassed and said, “We’ve been out of water in the city for weeks. Just bottled…”