He said, “She’s my wife.” Glancing in her direction, he said, “Maggie.”

  Maggie reluctantly lowered the rifle barrel.

  I admit I was frightened, but stepped from the vehicle followed by Annette. We joined the two on the porch.

  Mister Kincaid said, “My name is Jules. We’re not in school, so please call me that. You know Maggie’s name, I know you, Tempest, but who is this young woman with you?”

  Annette spoke for herself. “Glad to meet you, Jules, Maggie. I’m Annette, Tempest’s friend from Georgia.”

  Jules said, “A pleasure,” and then pointed to a forest-green, round wicker table with four matching chairs. “Let’s sit.”

  We sat. They sat. I said, “I was here a year or so ago. You weren’t the owner. An old man and his wife were.”

  “That was Mister and Missus Caldwell. The man died… heart attack. The place was on the market at the time I took my retirement.”

  Maggie joined the conversation. In a tone that telegraphed worry, she said, “You’re out looking for a safe place. That’s what you said. Why, what’s going on?”

  Rather than answer her directly, I asked Jules, “You said you left here once. Why only the one time, did something happen?”

  “It was the day after the EMP hit. I walked to the main road with the intent to hitch hike into Henderson. Only a few vehicles were on the road, all old vehicles, cars and pickups. None stopped. It took me most of the day, but I walked it.

  "What a mess. People were crazy. Everywhere I went there were mobs ransacking stores, shooting anyone that tried to stop them.”

  I said, “I went there several days later. I saw the bodies at the stores. All the food and medicines were gone.”

  Jules nodded, “Yeah, I figured that. I knew there wouldn’t be any reason to go back. I did talk to a few people, learned enough to know we were at war, but with media down, that was the limit.”

  I said, “I’ll tell you right off, your imaginings probably don’t come near the reality… Annette, you’ll be better at it. You tell em what’s going on in the world.”

  Annette said, “We don’t know a lot, but what we know is not going to be pleasant to hear.”

  She told em and their expressions reacted to her rendition. At the end, both of them were pale.

  In a quavering voice, Maggie asked, “Are you positive that the plague is as virulent as you say?”

  I said, “I am. I went to Henderson and found not a living soul. There was a community on the road that put up barricades. It took only one little girl sneaking past the barricade to infect them.”

  “And they all died?” She asked.

  “Yes, all of them died, horribly.”

  Maggie lost it, went hysterical, screamed, “Jules, they’re liars. Make them leave. Make them leave now, this minute. They’re lying.”

  She stood up and screamed louder, “Why? Why are you telling such horrible lies? It can’t be that bad, not everywhere. My mother and—.” She seemed to stagger, seemed on the verge of fainting, cried out, “Jules, please.”

  Jules rose from his chair to steady her but she fell into his arms. I heard her speak, weak, almost a whisper, “Our families, they can’t be dead.”

  Jules shouted, “Abby, we need you.”

  Almost instantly, a woman in her late twenties or early thirties came onto the porch with a rifle at ready.

  Jules said, “Lower your rifle and keep the young women company. I’m taking your mother inside.”

  Jules shuffled through the door, supporting Maggie. Abby stood in a befuddled state. To her I said, “Your mother heard some news she didn’t want to hear. Were you inside with your rifle pointed at us this entire time?”

  “Yes, I was on—. What news? What’s going on?”

  I said to Annette, “I reckon you’ll have to repeat it.” To Abby I said, “May as well sit and keep us company like your daddy said.”

  “He’s my stepfather. My father died ten years ago fighting the spillover of Boko Harum over in Kenya.” She moved to sit with us. “I had a feeling trouble was coming in with you. We’ve run a few beggars off, but I knew as soon as I saw you, you weren’t beggars.”

  I could hear the alarm in Annette’s voice. “Did any of you get near them, make physical contact with them? Touch anything they touched?”

  “No, we allowed no one close.” A short pause, then she said, “Oh shit, there’s a plague, an infection going around. Crap. How bad is it?”

  I glanced and said, “Annette.”

  Annette began with, “It’s a killer,” and continued from there. She was finishing the repeat when Jules reappeared at the door and joined us.

  “She’s resting. That was very disheartening news you brought.”

  Abby said, “Dad, do we have anything to trade? I’m about to ask them about their food situation.”

  “They can look over what we have.”

  Abby said, “Here’s the situation, we have meat but nothing else, not even oil to fry the meat in. We’ve had baked venison for over a week.”

  I told her, “Your fields are full of wild food.”

  “Point them out and believe me, I’ll harvest them. None of us knows anything about wilderness survival. Even before we ran short, our nutrition was in the wastebasket. Mom has a nervous condition and lack of proper food exacerbates it.”

  Annette said, “Tempest, I’m hungry. Would you bring MRE’s from the ATV…. one for Maggie as well.”

  I didn’t protest, asked instead, “We have chili, spaghetti, beef stew, Mac and cheese with meat bits, do you have a preference?”

  Jules said, “They all sound gourmet.”

  “MRE’s gourmet, no, edible, yes. I’ll bring an assortment and you all can sort it out. I’m having chili.”

  I returned to the table in time to hear Annette say to them, “I’ve told you nothing concerning what Tempest has experienced since the disaster started, nor have I related the horrors I encountered on my trip from Georgia. The world beyond your driveway is worse than you can imagine.”

  “Tell us,” Abby said, “The more we know, the better we can make plans.”

  Annette glanced at me. I shook my head, put the meals on the table, snagged my chili and said, “You’ll be more diplomatic than I will. Better that you tell em.”

  I went to the far end of the porch and set my meal warming. Their voices carried, but were low enough for me to tune out. I took my time eating, took long enough for Annette to finish talking and to call out, “Tempest, Jules wants to speak with you.

  I carried my empty meal pouch to the table and resumed my seat. Abby said, “First of all, please let me say I am sorry to hear about your loss of John and Bella. We had storms, but nothing like you all experienced. After what Annette related to us about the condition of the world, we are open to suggestions. You came here in hopes of finding a suitable place to farm, one that is isolated and has sufficient room for six people.”

  “Yes, but we have other options to check.” Then I spoke to Jules. “When you bought this place, were you planning it to be a farm or just a place to retire?”

  “It was our intent to raise cattle for market. Until college, I worked with my father on his ranch in Texas. That was thirty-five years ago. He’s seventy-eight and still at it. As crusty as he is, I have no doubt he’s still alive. It was my dream to retire with a ranch of my own. Ranching in Texas was rough, but the way grass grows here is a deal-maker from heaven.”

  “So what are your plans now?”

  Jules ran a hand across his forehead, past the receding hairline of his short-cropped greying brown hair and held it there to squeeze the top of his head. “Annette claims you are a doer, a proactive person. She presents a picture that is in conflict of my memory of you.”

  Before I could reply, Annette asked, “What is your memory of her?”

  Jules shook his head, “Let’s let it stand that it is different.”

  Annette shook her head, “No, put it out there.”

  Abby said, “He's not going to speak freely with her sitting right there.”

  I joined the conversation about me. “He was a teacher at my high school until last year. He probably heard all about how crazy I am. I don’t care.”

  Fiddling with the empty food packet, I said, “I don’t see a wastebasket out here, or I’d toss the food packet.” Then I turned to Annette. “It’s getting late, we need to get moving.”

  She said, “No, not until Jules clarifies—.”

  Jules spoke, “Over the course of three years I witnessed Tempest being physically escorted to the principal’s office at least a half-dozen times, fighting and cursing all the way. Tempest, because of her… her home situation was the butt of bullying. I understood her anger, but not her brutal methods of responding to it.”

  “Explain that please,” Annette demanded. “If one example is what she did at a basketball game, you can skip it.”

  Jules said, “I’ll not get into specific examples, but will say what happened at the basketball game was typical of her. Tempest never responded to an insult when given. She’d wait to render revenge in the most spectacular public way. Her revenge was always a physical attack when the victim least—.”

  Abby interrupted him, “You mean perpetrator, don’t you? She was the victim.”

  Jules displayed a perplexed expression, then laughed and said, “You’re correct, but by the time Tempest finished with them, the perpetrator was a victim. You know what… my response is totally biased. I’m going on what I think, not what I know. I have no idea what prompted Tempest to act out the way she did, only hearsay. It is quite possible that the level of bullying warranted her reaction.”

  Annette said, “I can tell you for a fact that the basketball player received his just deserts.”

  I stood from the table and said to Annette, “Let’s go.”

  Annette said, “I know your feelings aren’t hurt, you’re pissed. Sit down please, this conversation isn’t over.”

  I remained standing, trying to decide to wait for her or just hop on the four-wheeler and wheel away from the snobs.

  Annette guessed what I was thinking. She pointed to my chair. “I said, please.”

  Abby said, “I believe Annette is going to try to convince you to select our place to move to. I’m all for it.”

  “As am I,” Jules added.

  Still standing, I spoke to Jules. “Why. The way you were talking, you think I’m a nut.”

  “No, I never used that term, nor considered it. I was referencing your reputation for violence. I was distracted and spoke out of turn. I admitted my opinion of you is, no, was decided on secondhand information. Disregard that. If the situation beyond this ranch is as bad as you two portray, we need more people here.”

  I did take my seat, but not before gazing out on his property and saying, “Not much of a ranch without cattle.” Sitting, I said, “Admit this; you don’t have the slightest idea about what to do. You can’t even feed yourselves.”

  Abby laughed. “You are so very irritating.”

  “Tell me about it,” Annette agreed, “but if you all have half a brain, you’ll listen to her.”

  I began with questions. “What are you doing for water?”

  Jules answered, “The well pump for the house uses two-hundred-twenty volts so without power the house has no running water supply. The bunkhouse for the ranch hands has solar on the back roof panels. The solar supplies lighting, runs a refrigerator and pumps water from a shallow well on demand.”

  I know I frowned when I said, “You have no electrical or water here at the main house.”

  Annette noticed my negative tone. “That can be remedied. You mentioned acquiring more solar if the chosen place had insufficient, well, this place, having none is definitely insufficient.”

  I conceded the point. “Yeah, we’ll be able to remedy that. How are you all fixed on farm equipment?”

  Again, Jules supplied the answer. “One of the terms of sale was that all equipment stayed. We have everything. Besides the tractor, and a flatbed two-ton truck, we have a small dozer with a frontend loader.

  “There is one complication. All of them are newer models. You wouldn’t think farm equipment would have computers, but they do. The EMP knocked them out. At this time, none will crank, but if I had access to an auto-parts store, I can bypass them. Mainly it will involve changing the fuel supply to carbureted systems and bypassing a lot of electronics and emission controls.”

  “You know how to do that?” I asked.

  “Yes I do. In fact, I’ve already made a list of what it will take. Even the ATV had computerized ignition and controls, but that was an easy fix. We use it to cart water and food from the bunkhouse. We’re about out of gas though. I’ve already tapped a hole in the gas tank of my hybrid and drained it.”

  Annette said, “Tempest has a tractor and a good many attachments for it… also several vehicles.”

  I continued with questions. “How much food do you have on hand?”

  Abby supplied, “About ten pounds of venison.”

  “You have nothing other than venison, no canned goods, or dry goods?”

  Jules said, “As of a week ago, that’s it. Even before then we were rationing.”

  Abby said, “I should go check on Mom. Your news struck her a heavy blow. Struck all three of us a blow, but Dad and I haven’t had time to absorb our loss. We will, and we’ll hurt.”

  Jules nodded, “Yes we will.”

  Abbey continued, “Before I go in I’d like to know which way you’re swinging. Will you consider moving here?”

  Annette looked to me to provide an answer. I shrugged and said to Abby, “Give me another minute.” Then I asked Jules, “How many people will your ATV seat?”

  “It’s a nice one, seats four in comfort. It also has a covered utility trailer designed for it to pull.”

  “Good. If you’ll bring a pen and paper, Annette will draw you a map to our place. I want you all to come over tomorrow morning to help us load. Before we leave, we’ll top off the gas in your ATV and leave you MRE’s for today and morning.”

  Jules said, “Thank God.” Standing, he continued, “Abby, see to your mother, I’ll bring the pen and paper.”

  ************

  Dawn came a little cooler than the previous, but remained cloudless. After breakfast, I drove a pickup to our cabins and we began loading food from the big cabin. We had enough to fill the bed of that truck and half of the next truck I brought over. The rest of the bed we filled with bedding and sleeping pads.

  Bringing over the third pickup, John’s, I began to worry about the Kincaid’s’. Stepping from the truck, Preeja, coming from their cabin with a load for the truck, said, “Where is the family to come at morning? Morning is near past.”

  Annette following behind her echoed the worry. “They should be here. Something must have happened.”

  Vikas, disassembling the solar panels from the frames, said, “Perhaps it is them who need checked.”

  Annette agreed. “Yeah, it’s after ten and the sun’s been up for four hours. I think we should go check.”

  I asked, “Should you and I go on the four-wheeler, or should we drive over with what we have?”

  Annette said, “The four-wheeler without the trailer. If we run into trouble it’ll be more maneuverable.”

  Leaving the pickup for them to finish loading, Annette and I went to the barn. We unhooked the trailer and took off.

  We’d traveled about two miles when I saw a group of three on foot in the road ahead of us. Annette spotted them as well and leaned forward in the back seat to say, “They must have had a problem with their ATV.”

  Pulling abreast of them and stopping, Jules came to my side of the four-wheeler to speak. Maggie and Abby leaned on it to rest. “We had a feeling you’d be along to check on us,” Jules said.

  “Did you all have a problem with your ATV?” I asked.

  “It was taken from us,” Abby answered.

  Jules supplied, “I know who it was… it was Bobby Ellison and his two younger brothers.”

  I knew them; they lived near where the turn for the Kincaid’s place met this road. “Yeah, that doesn’t surprise me. They moved in a couple of years back. I had a class with him last year. I blacked that asshole’s eye for him. They kicked him out before the year ended; caught him with meth on him.”

  Annette asked, “What happened?”

  Jules said, “We came around a curve and there was a downed tree blocking the road, not a big one, but too big to drive over. As soon as I slowed, Bobby, Jack… I don’t know the younger boy’s name. Anyway, the three of them came out of the trees holding weapons.”

  Abby interjected, “Bobby had an assault rifle and the other two had pistols. They were hoping to catch the two of you. They saw you go by yesterday.”

  “Why?” Annette asked.

  “Bobby wanted to kill Tempest and take you. He remembered my father from school. What he said was, “We was gonna kill the crazy bitch and keep the pretty one, but fuck it, we’ll take your four-wheeler.”

  Maggie indicated my small four-wheeler and said, “We can’t all ride on this small toy.”

  I agreed, “You sure can’t. It’s only a couple more miles to our cabins. You’ll get there in time for lunch. Annette and I are going to get your ATV back.”

  Annette said, “We are?”

  “You bet we are. Do you want them to always be a worry?”

  “Who lives with them besides the boys?”

  “They have a sister, she’s maybe eleven. Their daddy’s an asshole like Bobby, only bigger but just as stupid. He probably has a mama there to, but I’ve never seen her.”

  Jules said, “You can’t ride back to your cabin and send someone to pick us up. Maggie is—.”

  Maggie, interrupting, said, “I can walk two more miles. Let them do what they said. Those hoodlums need a lesson taught.”

  I noticed something. “They took your weapons.”

  Jules grimaced and shrugged. “No way to stop them. With a rifle and two pistols pointed at us, we left them in the ATV as Bobby demanded.”

  “We’ll get em back for you.”

 

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