No Normal Day (8 page)

“
Have
any trouble today, Beth?” he said.

“
No,
still mostly quiet around here. Cody and I did spot a person or two
on the street that I didn't recognize, but then we certainly don't
know everybody in our vicinity. No one has approached the house. With
Cody's help, we got a place for him and Lee set up in my garage. In
the front bedroom, we pulled that big tall wardrobe in front of the
window. We turned the bed against the other wall to make a little
more room for Lynn and the girls. We stowed the food that Lee brought
in the storage closet.”

Cody
chimed in, “Yeah, and we made a rain catcher. See over there by
the building?” The daylight was gone now and the wind had come
up, blowing the tall old hardwoods around. A blue tarp stretched from
the corner of the storage building to the nearest tree. There was
enough slack in it to form a valley and it funneled down into a large
plastic trash can. It was still visible in the growing dark.

“
That's
great, you two” said
Jack.
“Looks like we might get some rain to collect. Cody, think we
better secure that container down, it will probably blow over before
it gets any water in it. Come with me, I'll see what we have in the
shop.”

Lee
came out the back door and said, “Okay, got the fridge plugged
up”, the three of them walk into the shop. The burgers were
done, Beth and Lynn went inside to get the food together. She soon
heard the whir-r of the refrigerator. The sound of raindrops could be
heard on the roof. The guys came in, Jack had a drop light on a long
cord and plug extender. He plugged the light in, on the cord with the
refrigerator, draping it over an open cabinet door so that it
illuminated the dining table and kitchen bar. The two girls sit at
the bar and the other five of them gathered around the table to eat
the hamburgers and the last of a bag of chips that had been in the
pantry.

Jack
said, “In the morning, I want all of us to have a meeting, to
try and get a handle on where we really stand right now. You know, a
look at our supplies and water, some plans for how we might replenish
things when we get low. Mainly, I want to discuss our security
issues. I think we are still at fairly low risk but it is rapidly
becoming high risk. Lee, are you a deep sleeper?”

Lee
swallowed a bite of burger and said, “Um-m, not really. Combat
forces you to learn to sleep with one eye open.”

“
Well,
I thought that would most likely be the case. Since you will be out
in the garage and I will be sleeping in the back of the house, I
don't think anyone has to stay up and watch tonight. We'll discuss
future watches, tomorrow. Lynn, if you will tell me just what you and
the girls need tonight, we'll get that in. We don't have to unload
everything tonight. I am going to go out and get a some more water
bottles for the small bath. I'll let the generator run for about
another hour.” The rain still peppered
down
on the tarp as he dashed
for
the storage building.

Beth
cleared away dinner, looked at the expanding bag of trash,
we will
have to figure out how we are going to deal with that.
She
already had filled a dishpan with warm water heated on the stove and
she dropped the glasses and silverware in, to wash in a while.
Getting a flashlight from the counter, she lead Lee and Cody out
through the small room, where the pantry was on one side and the
washer and dryer on the opposite. Cody was looking pleased with
himself as they showed Lee the accommodations. They had to walk
around the SUV, which was parked near the door to the house. In the
space next to it, where another car could have squeezed in, he had
helped Beth clear out all the clutter and move it out to the storage
building or Jack's shop, which was a generous two car garage.

This
garage was paneled with a cheap imitation wood paneling, various
hooks and nails were scattered on the walls. A rather gaudy large
battery clock, from an earlier time and decorating preference ticked
away, hanging near the tall stand of shelves that sat in front of the
window. They had cleaned the junk from the shelves and some of Lee's
and Cody's gear now huddled there. A big bottle of water, some throw
away cups, a towel and couple of washcloths were on the top shelf. A
single size roll away, fold out bed was on each side of the window, a
wooden TV tray opened up beside each. Mismatched and slightly worn
throw rugs softened the cold concrete floor next to each bed. Candles
sat on each table, with matches beside them. Cody lit the candles and
bounced gently on the side of a bed. The beds already had sheets,
pillows, a blanket and folded up at the foot of the beds, some
blankets that Lee and Cody brought. Over the years, Beth and Jack had
bought about six of these beds, to have for family Christmases, etc.,
because they stored away and were actually darn comfy.

Lee
took it all in, rubbed the back of his neck. “Who would have
ever thought a garage could look so homey? Thanks, Beth...you and
Jack...for making Cody and I welcome. I really appreciate it.”

Beth
said, “No bother,” and winked at Cody, who was laying
back on the pillow with his hands behind his head. Cody can show you
where the bath is. If you are brave, you can stand in the tub and
pour some of the cold water over your head. Our septic is still
working. I left a flashlight on the counter. She clapped her hands
together, “Well, I am going to wash my dishes and start getting
ready for bed.”

Lee
said, “I'll go see if Jack needs anything else”.

Before
the dishes, she went down the hall to the front bedroom. The girls
were getting settled in, they of course, were quite familiar with the
house. Lynn gingerly wiped her face with a damp cloth. Beth knew that
she hated to be coddled. She said, “Lynn, if you need to talk
to me about anything, you know I am here.” She had explained
the bath situation, earlier.

“
I
know, Moma. Don't worry.”

Jack
and Lee came in the back door, there was still water dripping from
the edge of the covered back patio. Beth was moving to the kitchen
sink. A sharp
POW!
e
choed
outside, not right by but not so far away. Jack and Lee hustled to
the front door. “Lock up,” Jack said to Beth. They stayed
under the porch roof and let their eyes adjust to the dark. Jack put
his hand on his gun and moved slowly out to the drive, Lee right
behind him. There was another
POW!
This time it was obvious,
the noise was coming from somewhere near the highway. They can hear
voices, broken, shouting and then things got quiet.

Lee
said, “Look, I think I see someone running”. The rain had
turned to a mist, it was so inky with no stars, it was impossible to
see very far. They stood still in the driveway for a few more
minutes, watching.

“
Let's
get back in” said
Jack.
The wet had already dampened their clothes. Beth let them in, locked
back
up, she gave
Jack
a worried look. He said, “It was somewhere up closer to the
highway, something going on.”

“
But,
that's not very far, Jack.”

“
I
know. I still think, that for a little longer there will be plenty of
places for the slugs to loot, cars...stores. Tomorrow, we will start
making some plans. With Lee and I in the house, I feel pretty good
about tonight. Let's all try to get some rest.” Jack patted Lee
on the back, “Go ahead, get some sleep. See ya in the morning.”

Beth
put out the lantern, left the dishes for morning. Once again, she and
Jack went to sleep with fingers entwined. There would be a fresh
plan. She knew that it would not get rid of the rock of worry that
laid in the bottom of her stomach, about the rest of the family. It
would keep her moving, though.

It
was early
morning, Jason stood
under
the sprawling old live oak trees in his back field. The fire of a
cigarette glowed
in
his hand. He was not at all sure what he should be doing. Something
had
most
certainly gone wacko. It was the start of the weekend and he was off
duty. About three months earlier, he and Dianne bought this great
little place and moved off base. It lay
twenty
five miles plus, from the central Texas military complex that had
been
his home base for about four of the eight years he had
been
in the Army, just a little farther
from
Dianne's job in town. It was
just
the two of them at home now and they loved
this
place, even though it was quite isolated. Three acres, a remodeled
house and about ten miles to a town with basic necessities. The roads
that lead to the place from the nearest highway, were gravel, narrow
and thickly overhung with tree limbs.

Dianne
walked
up
behind him, encircled
his
waist,“What cha' think, Babe?” He exhaled
some
smoke, snuffed
the
cigarette out and pulled
her
around. She was so much shorter than him, he placed
his
chin on the top of her head and smelled
her
soft
black
hair. “Maybe
your
crazy momma is smarter than we think
”
.
He had
always,
just mostly laughed off his mother-in-law's talk of end-of-the-world,
apocalyptic events. He had
seen
plenty of bad things and didn't kid himself about
the
craziness of the world. Yet, he had
been
busy being a good soldier, busy being a husband, busy trying to mesh
together “his” kids and “her” kids. When he
was state-side, he was just damned glad to be in the United States of
America, no time to fret over the complicated state of affairs or
things that
might
happen.

“
Well,
we don't really know what has happened, do we?” said
Dianne
as she moved
back
and looked
up
at her tall lean husband.

“
Did
you get in touch with the kids?” he asked.

Dianne replied,
“
Of
course, not. The phone won't work, not even the cell.”

“
Right,
and neither your car or my truck will start. Look over there, it's
that car that goes by here ten times a day. It's stopped right there
at the corner. Something big is wrong, this is not just a typical
power outage,” said
Jason

“
What
do you think we should do?” said
Dianne.

“
I
don't know yet. I feel like I should be on the base. I am trying to
think this through,” he said.

“
Jason...the
base! How would you get there? Anyway, I don't want you to leave. You
know I never complain, even when you are deployed. But, this has me
spooked.”'

Jason
smiled at her, “You think I haven't hiked a lot further than
twenty five miles with a heavy pack on my back? Hey, where's that
battery radio that your mother gave us for Christmas?”

“
I'll
go look for it, come on in,” she pulls on his hand.

The
coffee had
just
finished brewing when the power had gone off. Of course, it was cold,
so Dianne put
it
in a sauce pan and warmed
it
on the gas stove. She didn't drink coffee, Jason drank
several
cups in the morning. She poured
herself
a glass of Dr. Pepper and took
the
coffee to the table, where Jason was already sitting. They heard
the
gate clanging around and someone shouting, “Yoo-hoo,
Dianne...Jack? Are you there?” They had purposely started
locking
the gate when they realized what a pestering busy body, the neighbor
Mrs. Lingner was. They rolled their eyes at
each
other and Dianne stepped out on the front porch. “Hello, Mrs.
Lingner, what's up?”