Compass Call: Survival & Awakening (The Gatekeeper Book 3) (21 page)

Jenna began by explaining they designed the meal-packs to feed four people each. She said they got the idea from John’s MREs, only that their version of “Meals Ready to Eat” were a bit more primitive. They would seal the food in durable, silver Mylar bags to protect it while traveling. The ladies assumed they would stop at night, and that there would be an opportunity to cook dinner and breakfast, so they
planned the meal-packs around that consideration. They planned the mid-day meal around something quick and easy to prepare like sandwiches, jerky and trail-mix.

Marissa added, that with the variety of freeze dried and dehydrated foods available to them, they could easily develop a menu of several different meal combinations. The meals would be pre-portioned in clear zip-lock baggies, and then sealed in the thick Mylar bags. Each bag would include a copy of a recipe-slash-menu, and a brief description of the meal would be written on the outside of each Mylar bag with a black Sharpie pen. Their only concern was how to adequately seal the bags. John told them that that would be the easiest part of their project. He recommended they use Jenna’s ceramic flat-iron. When heated, the flat-iron could be pressed over the opening and seal the Mylar layers as well as any factory process. John also offered up his extra oxygen absorbers, which prompted Jenna to ask just how far and how long they would be traveling.

John wasn’t sure exactly where they were going, so he couldn’t say. He hadn’t yet received his destination from Eli, only marching orders. But he did tell them that it would be a long trip, perhaps more than four hundred miles, and that it would likely take them somewhere near the rocky mountains. His comment unleashed a barrage of additional questions about their destination, none of which he could answer without more information from Eli, so all he said was, “To the mountains. That’s all I can say for now.”

He hated being illusive, but not knowing their destination made it impossible for him to provide more information. He almost said they were heading for the alpine hunting lodge he, Pete, and Mark rented last year for their hunting trip, but he really didn’t want them to key in on that possibility. John knew the importance of expectation management, and that sometimes it was better to say nothing at all than to give people false hopes. He promised to tell them more tomorrow, once he got a chance to study the maps.

Ready to change the subject, John asked to see one of the menus. Bonnie handed him seven sheets of paper, one for every day of the week. As he looked them over he saw they were clearly written and well organized. Someone had worked very hard to make them nice and easy to use. “Wow. I’m already impressed,” he said, as he looked over the first sheet and handed it to Pete.

John continued to study the remaining menu sheets, and the ladies took the opportunity to discuss their upcoming meal production and assembly operations. They wanted to begin first thing in the morning, but they needed a long list of dehydrated and freeze dried food brought in from the shelter. John told them everything would be brought in once the meeting was over.

When John was on the last menu sheet, he couldn’t help but appreciate all the hard work and effort that went into planning the travel meals. He silently read the contents for a meal of breakfast tacos, which included powdered scrambled egg mix, powdered milk, flour, salt, powdered shortening, chopped onions, chopped green peppers, diced potatoes, and sausage crumbles. The bag would also contain the dinner meal of white rice, dehydrated refried beans, freeze-dried carrots, corn, and diced chicken breast, and shredded cheddar cheese, all to make up a tasty chicken and rice casserole with beans on the side. Lastly, the bag included fruit drink mix, freeze dried fruit, a small bag of hard candy, plastic eating utensils, napkins, paper plates, and hand sanitizer wipes. They were, by John’s reckoning, just like a jumbo MRE, but he knew better than to say anything. He just looked at Bonnie and smiled.

John was very impressed with their attention to detail. The ladies included many things he didn’t think about, such as eating supplies and candy. He was also impressed with their thoughtfulness on easy preparation and a relatively short cooking time. Their meals were balanced and would provide enough calories to see them through the journey without relying heavily on valuable MRE’s, or the high-energy bars. Jenna’s canned meats and veggies, as well as the inclusion of any
fresh food found along the way, would help augment their meals. Two things that John would make sure were included on the food packing list was Tabasco sauce for seasoning, and his personal favorite, peanut butter. He loved tuna with peanut butter on crackers, it made for a tasty, high energy meal.

John handed Pete the last menu just as Paul entered the kitchen. “Did you stop the water distribution for the day?” asked John.

“Yeah, we just sent the last person home a minute ago . . . the guy filled three of those plastic one-gallon milk cartons with water,” he said, as he sat next to Marissa.

“Milk cartons are the worst way to store water,” said John.

“Why’s that?” asked Pete.

“No matter how thoroughly you wash them, you can’t get all the milk fat off the plastic. It will eventually contaminate the water,” answered John. And then he added, “But it should be fine if they purify it and drink it right away.”

“Umm, I dipped them straight in the pool. Will that be a problem?” asked Paul.

“No. But I think we should use one of our own buckets to pour the water into their containers. I don’t think we should risk contaminating the entire pool by dipping someone’s dirty container in the pool,” said John. “Before I go to bed tonight I’ll make some fliers to tell people how to make the water safe to drink. By the way, did you get an address for the baby-mom?” asked John.

“Mom?” asked Jenna, “What . . . baby-mom?” She was immediately interested and genuinely concerned.

“There was a young mother with a baby at the meeting,” said John. “She was asking for baby formula.” Jenna’s lips pouted slightly and John said, “No Jenna!”

“No, what?” she replied while narrowing her eyes.

“No . . . we’re not taking on a young mother and her baby. We don’t even know her family situation. And we can’t involve ourselves with every sentimental case that comes along. We just can’t do it, Jenna”
said John. She stood up, put her hands on her hips, and stared hard at John. He knew he was in trouble, so before she could launch her verbal attack he said, “But don’t worry, we already made plans to help her out.”

“What plans?” she asked.

“I had Paul follow her home after the meeting . . . to see where she lives. We’re going to make her a food care-package and anonymously deliver it to her house,” said John.

Jenna lowered her arms and sat down. “When?”

“As soon as we’re done here,” replied John.

“What are you going to put in her care package?”

John said, rather sheepishly, “I thought I’d leave that up to you. Fortified powdered milk is a must, but beyond that . . . your guess is as good as mine. I only ask that it not be too much. We don’t want to make her a target too.”

“Why anonymously. Why can’t I just go and visit her?” asked Jenna.

“It’s not safe, Jenna. We can’t jeopardize our security by becoming emotionally involved with every desperate situation. And trust me, we’ll see a lot of them. The further we get into the survival period, the more we’ll see. This is just like sharing our rations with the entire neighborhood. If we shared our food we’d be out in a week, and then what? We’d have to desperately scavenge just to stay alive. I understand your feelings about this, but we have to temper our charity with a healthy dose of survival reality and instinct.”

“I don’t like it,” said Jenna.

John was grateful the other women, and the men too for that matter, were staying out of the conversation, but he thought their silence had more to do with John’s status in the group than the baby-mom’s real needs. Everyone at the table knew they’d be in dire straits if it wasn’t for John’s preparations, especially Jenna, but that’s not the way he wanted it to work. He didn’t want them thinking they had to surrender themselves to his decisions just because he enabled their
survival. They were a survival group, a company, and they should act and decide as a group. “What do you guys think? I want to hear from each of you. This is not a dictatorship. I really need to hear what you guys think about baby-mom. Let’s start with Marissa and then move around the table. Marissa?” asked John.

“John. I trust you with my life,” she said, as tears began to well up in her eyes and stream down her cheeks. “I barely know you, but what I do know about you I love and trust completely. You saved me in more ways than you realize, and I will never second guess anything you propose,” said Marissa, as she wiped her eyes.

“I’m sorry . . . again . . . about your house,” said John.

“I wish you’d quit apologizing to me about it,” said Marissa. “It wasn’t your fault.”

“But I should have acted quicker to prevent it from happening,” said John.

“John, it’s OK, really. We’re alive. Besides, we’re going with you . . . we’re following you . . . so we would have lost the house anyway. So please, stop apologizing about it. Everything happens for a reason,” concluded Marissa, as she blew her nose lightly into a tissue.

John nodded and turned to look at Bonnie.

“I trust you too, John, but for an entirely different set of reasons,” said Bonnie. “I trust you because Pete trusts you . . . and I trust Pete. I recognize your reasoning, but it’s a hard truth that, in order to survive, we have to turn our backs on those who need our help. I’m glad you’re going to help that woman, but I wish we could do more for her,” finished Bonnie.

“Pete,” said John.

“Brother, you and I have seen a lot. We’ve seen and dealt with things a lot tougher than this . . . much uglier than this. I agree with you. We have to learn to temper our emotions before the real tests come along, but we also have to hold on to our Christianity. We obviously can’t share what we have with everyone, which means we can’t advertise, but we should always help . . . when and where we can. I think the best
thing to do is stick with the plan. I say we leave the woman some food, but not let her know where it came from,” finished Pete.

“Paul?” asked John.

Paul tilted his head in thought. John knew he usually always had an opposing view, and he was curious to hear what would have to say. Paul looked at Marissa, as if seeing her in a different light, but not so different as to make him appear spell-bound. John saw Marissa as a resolute woman of great spiritual and physical strength, and he was glad she was a part of their group, but he didn’t know how Paul saw her. Clearly, no one knew the pain and horror of Marissa’s experiences, but she was alive, and mentally strong to boot. If Paul didn’t see that in her, then there was nothing John could say to help him.

Without taking his eyes off his wife, Paul said, “John, I owe you a debt that I’ll never be able to repay. I know I’ve been a challenge for you, but you’ve been patient and understanding with me.” Paul turned to look at John and added, “And if I had to serve under any man, well, you’re the man for me. I trust you with my life, John, and I won’t second guess you again. I agree with Pete . . . we should stick to the plan”.

John knew Paul was saying more than offering his support for the woman with the baby, he was referring to everything John planned and proposed. In essence, Paul just swore his fealty to John. He nodded at Paul and faced his wife. She had become the minority opposition, the last man out, and John worried that he had gone too far. Before she could say anything, John said, “Jenna, my love, you’re my life. Everything I did, all the preparations, all the work . . . I did it all for you. If you want me to take that woman in, I will . . . but there’s always more to the story than meets the eye. I don’t want you to think I’m inhuman and uncaring. I care more than you realize. It’s just that we risk everything when we reveal our capabilities to the neighborhood. When people learn that we have food we’re willing to share, then everyone will come here asking for a handout.

You know how I tried to talk to everyone about preparedness. But even if it worked out . . . even if I did get a chance to talk to our
neighbors, how many people do you think would have prepared? Honestly, I don’t think it would have changed anything, because most people couldn’t justify preparedness,” said John, as he scratched his head and leaned forward to rest his elbows on the table. He studied the polished, wood grain surface of the kitchen table and said, “Everyone lives and dies by their choices. I’m not judging my neighbors for the choices they made, but I’m not judging myself for the choices I made either.”

“Charity is a choice,” said Jenna.

“Yes. Charity is a choice, but so is survival. And where do we draw the line between the two? Is it our responsibility to provide for the unprepared so we can feel better about our survival?”

“I’m not saying we have to provide for anyone,” said Jenna, in a low and contemplative voice. “All I’m saying is that we have a responsibility to be charitable.”

John managed to say, “We’ve been . . .” when Marissa began to speak over him.

“John, excuse me for interrupting, but you guys have been very charitable with us, Jenna. Me sitting here is proof of that. We’d be dead without your charity.”

“And us too,” said Bonnie, as she reached a hand across the table to rest it on Jenna’s.

Jenna looked solemnly at her girlfriends and said, “It’s just that, I think about her desperation, and it makes me want to cry.”

“We don’t know enough about her to say she’s desperate, but we’re going to help her anyway,” replied John, “And we’ll help others too, but we’re not responsible for them, or for the disaster. I don’t know why God saw fit to bring the disaster upon us, but we prepared when few others did. I admit we’re blessed to have food, and good friends to help us, but my responsibility has been, and will always be, to you and the kids.”

John looked around at everyone sitting at the table and said, “And now that we have more people, in fact a company even, we’re
committed to an even larger family unit. But we’ll agree to meet every time we face a decision on whether or not to help a stranger, unless of course they’re in danger. But their inclusion into our company will always be a group decision. Does everyone agree?” asked John.