Will of Man - Part Two (2 page)

I wanted to just leave rather than deal with his rotting corpses. But Jax was a good friend and I was going to show respect to him and his family. Near Jax’s Dad’s body I found a note. It basically asked for forgiveness and asked that whoever found his body would they please bury him near his family. So I did. And that’s all I want to say about that.

I rode back and told Dad. He was proud that I honored Jax. I’m glad I did it, but not that I had to.

Tyler’s Journal Entry: 225

Date: July 30

Day: Tuesday

Weather: Sunny and Crazy Hot!

Days since the LAST DAY: 1 year, 2 months, 29 days

The weather is scorching hot! Dad suggests we stay inside, down in the basement. It’s much cooler in the basement especially if we keep the shades closed. We have a walkout basement that’s furnished with one bedroom.

Lately, we’ve all been sleeping in the basement since even the nights are so hot. Tanner and I moved our bunk beds down to the basement and Mom and Dad sleep in the basement bedroom.

Since it’s so hot, we don’t go outside much. I’m beginning to get cabin fever staying in so much. Everyone’s getting on each other’s nerves. Mom and Dad have been snapping at each other constantly and Tanner’s being the stereotypical little brother by driving me nuts.

We try to play board games and cards to help the time go by. But those games are getting old and everyone’s on edge.

I tried a couple times to get out and be productive outside, but the heat is too much. I miss our pool. I’ve been tempted to ride the six miles to the lake to go swimming, but it’s just too hot. The heat reflects off the blacktop and I feel like I’m going to melt.

Tanner and I got bored and set a pan out on the blacktop. We took an egg from the chicken coop and cooked it in the pan.

Dad and I pump water from the well at dawn and water the garden at night. Dad says it’s best to water plants at night, because it’s unhealthy for the plants to be watered during the day when it’s so hot out. It’s fine by me, because I wouldn’t want to be out during the day in the sun anyways.

At least we have an abundance of books to read and my journal keeps me preoccupied for the most part. Tanner’s young enough that he still likes to play with his toys. However, he makes really annoying noises when he plays and I have to keep reminding him to be quiet. Mom and Dad are even at their wits end with his little noises.

I’m worried about Molly our dog because she looks sick from the heat. She just lays and pants really hard all day. I keep bringing her water, but she doesn’t seem interested in it. I hope she gets better.

I actually took a nap in our cellar. It’s the only place cool enough to relax. It’s not big enough to stretch out. But it will do for now. Anything for a little escape from the heat.

Tanner, Dad, and I have resorted to walking around in only our underwear. Mom is a little stronger. I think it’s only a matter of time though.

Tyler’s Journal Entry: 227

Date: August 1

Day: Thursday

Weather: Sunny and still Crazy Hot!

Days since the LAST DAY: 1 year, 3 months, 0 days

Today was intense. The day started out with it being hot as usual. Dad and Tanner were pumping water from the well when three men approached our house. Molly did her job and started barking loudly to let us know something was wrong.

They were each carrying rifles. They were holding their guns in front of them walking across our yard. Anyone from the community knows this is a huge violation of the community rules.

The rule in our community is; that if you approach someone’s home you must stop at the outer edge of the owner’s property and wait till you’re acknowledged. When you have the owner’s attention, you must hold one hand in the air to signify that you are not aggressive and come in peace.

You never enter someone’s yard until given the “Come across” sign – which is one hand raised by the owner of the home. Two hands means stop and the owner will come to you. And a swipe of the hand means go away. Once permission is given, you may peacefully enter onto someone’s property. This rule keeps the peace.

But today, three strangers were walking across our three acre yard. They were holding their rifles with both hands and no “Come across” sign was given.

Dad didn’t recognize them. They were very dirty and looked lethargic. Dad held both hands up signifying for them to stop and wait. They kept walking towards the house. Dad yelled for them to stop, but they didn’t.

I remember being scared, but also realizing Dad was in his underwear and looking really silly. He turned to Tanner and told him to run inside and to tell Mom to go into lockdown. Lockdown was our code for securing the house.

We have interior shutters made of treated two-by-six boards. They are hinged above each window of the basement and first level. They just swing down and lock in place. The doors have similar set ups. We actually lock them in place each night in case someone tries to break in at night while we’re sleeping.

There are peep holes for looking out. Each room has a fire extinguisher in it in case of fires. Miscellaneous weapons are hidden in floor boards for each room with extra ammunition.

We practiced lockdowns a few times and everyone knew exactly what to do. It reminded me of fire and tornado drills at school (probably where Dad got the idea).

I wasn’t prepared to shoot anyone, but I was prepared to act like I could. I took my post and stuck my rifle barrel out the peep hole and aimed it right at those men.

Dad realized these men weren’t listening to him and were not going to stop. So he back stepped his way to the house and closed the final unsecured door of the house. He told me to run up and sound the alarm.

The alarm is a flare gun, and in the case of danger or an emergency, we fire a flare in the air. Anyone who notices the flare must, by community rule, arm themselves and respond as quickly as possible. They gather everyone they can on the way.

There were only so many flare guns available; so only certain families were given one. The others have bells or horns they can sound, and then those with flares who hear the bells or horns shoot a flare to notify everyone that can see the flare.

The flares have only been used twice and those were for house fires. They’ve never been used to signal a confrontation with strangers.

I was worried no one would see the flare since it was daytime. But once I shot it, it went high in the air and let off a big boom. I felt confident the cavalry would soon be storming across the fields.

The men saw Dad go into the house and they must have heard or saw the flare. But they still kept coming. They were walking slowly, each with a blank stare on their face. They looked like zombies. No reaction to anything.

They finally reached our front door. I didn’t know what to expect. Were they going to shoot through the door? Were they going to just keep walking and leave us alone? What did they want? Why didn’t they heed Dad’s warning?

I waited at my post on the second floor of our house. I couldn’t see them since I was guarding the back of the house. But I could faintly hear a weak knock at the front door. I could hear Dad calmly asking them what they wanted and that they needed to leave their weapons at edge of the yard if they wanted to talk.

The conversation was hard to hear, and I was more focused on looking for anyone trying to sneak up from the back of our house. I could hear Dad repeating himself and telling them to leave their weapons at the edge of the yard.

The conversation went on for a while when finally I could see locals coming to our rescue. I was impressed with the quick response and how many were coming. They were closing in from all directions. Some were coming down the road. Others were emerging from the woods and out of the corn field. These strangers didn’t stand a chance if they meant to do us any harm.

I ran down to Dad and whispered to him the house was surrounded with locals. He nodded and motioned for me to go back to my post.

Dad told the men they were in danger and needed to drop their weapons. He explained that the house was surrounded and they were in danger of being shot if they didn’t drop their weapons.

The three men noticed the locals and slowly dropped their weapons. Then Dad, thankfully after putting some pants on, stepped outside and grabbed the men’s weapons.

Once I could see the men up close, I noticed how messed up they were. Their skin was badly sunburned and they had wounds all over their bodies. Their clothes were torn and smelled horrible.

They explained that they had come from Chicago and had been traveling for days. They said they traveled most the distance on horses until their horses were stolen. Apparently there were five of them, but two were killed sometime during the journey.

The men said the big cities like Chicago are in chaos. All three men’s eyes showed fear and despair as they described the chaos. They said people are starving and turning to cannibalism. Fighting is everywhere. Bodies litter the streets and the stench of death is everywhere. People don’t drink the water because so many dead bodies have fallen into the water supply. No one is safe to roam around alone and gangs are constantly battling for control.

They said their family members are all dead and that they have had enough of the big cities. The men said they have been traveling non-stop for days and only ask that we give them some spare food and water.

One of the travelers’ claims to have relatives up north and that they plan to reconnect with them. The community had a vote right there on our lawn and decided to give the men shelter for the night and some supplies. We have a community shelter in town ran by volunteers for situations like this.

The men were taken to the shelter and given food with new clothes. They will be taken care of. Because that’s what we do here in Laingsburg – we help those we can.

Tyler’s Journal Entry: 258

Date: October 11

Day: Thursday

Weather: Cool and cloudy

Days since the LAST DAY: 1 year, 5 months, 10 days

It’s been a while since I’ve been into town. Dad’s kept me and Tanner busy in preparation for harvesting. We’ve been cleaning jars, cleaning the cellar, throwing out bad preserves to make room for new ones, gathering wood for the smoke house, etc.

So today Mom told me and Tanner to ride into town and barter for some more canning jars. We have some extra muskrat traps we never use and Mom thought they’d be good to trade for some supplies. Every Saturday the community has a flea market at the Laingsburg VFW hall. People can go there to trade for supplies and catch up on local gossip and events happening abroad.

I ran into Kendrick and he began to tell me about the three men that trespassed on our property a couple months back. Apparently they never left like they said they were going to. Apparently they’ve become trouble for some of the local businesses.

After a couple days in our community shelter, they began hanging out at the local bar. They hooked up with a local single woman and moved into her place. She’s a rough character herself and was kind of known as one of the town drunks. She was always in trouble with the local police and fighting with anyone she didn’t agree with.

Fights have been more frequent and some minor larceny has occurred. Kendrick says the three men are the main influence and people are getting upset with them.

They’d be easier to deal with, but they seem to have a following amongst the local “riff-raff” as Kendrick calls them. Riff-raff - meaning the town drunks and trouble makers. Apparently one of the men is a skilled fighter and has a mean streak. He got in a fight with three men at the bar and beat them all up. He’s been known to smack women too who talk back to him.

Kendrick says the man often goes on rants about the haves and have-nots. He likes to bully people who he thinks has more than him. I guess some of the locals like him because of the way he treats some of the “better off.” It sounds to me like he’s a bully. His name is Tyson.

Tyler’s Journal Entry: 278

Date: October 31

Day: Friday

Weather: Cool

Days since the LAST DAY: 1 year, 5 months, 30 days

Today was Halloween. It started off great. Mom made Tanner and I costumes. Tanner was a zombie baseball player and I was a zombie farmer. Mom made homemade candies, and Dad made his specialty – caramel corn balls.

Everyone from the community joined in the center of town and waited for the church bells to signal the beginning of Halloween. At six o’clock the bells rang and we set out.

Mom and Dad decided Tanner and I were old enough to walk the town ourselves. Besides, the two of us joined forces with our friends and made a candy hunting posse. We had a great time.

People in the community went all out and really showed us kids a great time. I think Halloween is better now than before the LAST DAY. Maybe because people have more time or they just want to bring back the memories of better times. Either way, it was great!

However, when we returned to meet Mom and Dad at the local park, we found Dad in big trouble. He was surrounded by the three men who earlier in the year trespassed on our property. Apparently they remembered Dad and wanted to harass him for giving them trouble.