Sunday, March 4, 2012

Catastrophy of the highest order..part ten

As you drive towards home you think about all the things you have seen since the time the world seemed to come to an end. You have seen the worst of people and the best of people. It seems like the division of good and evil. You either have the good or bad in people come out. Having seen the good things going on in Darlington made you feel lots better about things. Hopefully small communities will be able to come together and shape up a new way of living like they are on their way to doing.
You think that the south will cope way better than the big cities. It's a more simpler way of life down here than up in the metropolitan places like New York. Not that there isn't any folks in New York that can't cope. Upstate New York has a lot of farms and people that are used to the olden ways. As a trucker you have traveled many a mile across this great land and you have see the many farms and fields that seem to be almost self-sufficient. You think about the places that don't have a chance to survive. Los Angeles, San Fransisco, Portland Oregon, Seattle Washington, Detroit Michigan, Atlanta, Georgia, Miami, Florida and some other places. Anywhere there has been gang activity will have very hard hurdles to overcome. Maybe now that there is no law enforcement to speak of they will be able to develop a new sense of order. No more trails and juries to decide if a murderer needs to die. Just a quick bullet to the head or maybe bring back the gallows.
Now maybe the Senators and Congressmen that have sucked this country dry and confused the masses have now been rendered useless. Now they can pack up their bullshit in a sack and try to eat off of that for the next few years. All their money isn't going to do those fat-cats any good now you're thinking. They will be sitting in that big house up there in Washington DC without any electricity or food just like the rest of us.
You are thinking that even with all the tragedy that this has caused it just might be the wake-up call that America needs.
You remember a tale about the second world war. After Japan had decimated Pearl Harbor it was often wondered why the Japanese did not continue their attack on the United States and try to overtake the country. The Dictator of that time knew of the Second Amendment. He figured if he tried to attack the U.S. that he would be up against the biggest army in history. The armed citizens of the U.S. By the time you count all of the hunters and farmers and gun owners in this country, you have an armed assembly of 15,000,000. He was very aware that this attack on the U.S. would have been a losing proposition so the attack was never carried out. He would have been a fool to have tried it.
Now maybe there will be new lawmakers. Not the kind that have political pull but the lawmakers that have actually gotten their hands dirty. Some folks like the ones who were first elected to congress and senate. They were neighbors, friends and businessmen who served their one term and then got the hell out. Politics was never meant to be a career. It was to bring new fresh ideas into the thinking pool every two years. Not to sit up there and suck up the benefits of being an elected official and keep tying up the courts and abusing the system and being corrupted like most have seemed to be through the years.
You are thinking that if a foreign country does come over and try to take the country over that they will be surprised to find an actual "United" States of America.
Your heart goes out to all the folks that the catastrophe has taken a mortal toll on. It's a sad state of affairs you think but in the long run, whoever was responsible will pay the price.
As you mind wonders and ponders all of this, you notice that I-95 is coming up. Another 55 miles takes you to the state line (is there any states anymore?) then it's 15 miles further south, 12 miles west and your are home.
The distance goes by quickly and you are noticing your fellow citizens down here in the south are beginning to adapt. You see lots more activity and it seems like folks are starting to cope with things a lot better. Horses, small scooters, bicycles, wagons and quad runners seem to be the choice of transportation. You even see a Model T running down the interstate and you wonder how many m.p.g. it gets. Probably pretty good you are thinking because of the smaller motor it has. I guess it was a good thing that the owner hung on to it. Anyway, you turn on to the road to home and as you near you blast the air horn. In response you see your wife and children running excitedly over from the carport area.
You gather them up in your arms and you cannot remember ever being so happy in your life and by the way your family is acting neither have they.
You savor the moment for a long while and then you look around your small home and modest parcel of land. You have the confidence that you and your family have what it takes to get a new way of life kicked off. It's sink or swim time and you sure don't plan on sinking.
Welcome home dad!

Friday, March 2, 2012

Catastrophy of the highest order..part nine

You bring it to a stop and set the brakes. She comes over and meets you as you climb out of the cab. She is crying and her face is all swollen and red. You notice how she is very disheveled and the black rings around her eyes. Her dress was flimsy and torn and it looks like she has slept in the same clothes for a week. Her kids are filthy and both red-eyed and crying.
She tells you that her husband has been murdered, they have been robbed, she has been beaten and raped and the children witnessed it all. She asks if she could get a ride into town because their car won't start and she needs medical attention. The phones are also out and have been for two days. She tells you that the robbers had probably taken her husband's money he kept out in the barn in a bunch of mason jars. She is pretty sure that one of the robbers looked familiar and he more than likely knew it was there.
You look at her and your heart goes out to her and her children. You explain to her as best you can about why her car won't start and why the phones don't work. You also tell her that the town she wants to go to will probably not have any hospital that's open but you'll be glad to take her and her kids to town.
She looks back towards her house and then looks at your with pleading eyes and asks if you could please do one thing for her before they left. She explains how her husband has been lying in the floor for two days because she hasn't the strength to do anything with him and could you please help her with it.
At this point she is on the verge of hysterics and you agree to help. After you explain that taking him to town would probably be a bad idea, you both agree that a burial on the farm would be for the best.
You go to the shed and acquire a shovel and she points out the spot where she'd like you to dig his grave.
After a painstaking hour, you have dug a grave that should be sufficient. Without a ruler you can tell that it is deep and wide enough. No time to build a coffin so by the time you have the grave dug she has re-dressed him in some good clothes. You bring him outside and try to lower him into the hole gracefully. That doesn't work out to well so you have to go down and cross his arms and straighten him out a little. You climb back out and she is standing beside the grave with her hands down by her side. Her children are standing there in what you think might be shock. They have just seen their dad murdered, their mom assualted and now they are watching their dad get buried.
She looks up at you again with those pleading eyes and asks if you can please say something for him and offer up a prayer.
You remember a little bit about when you used to go to church so you recite some verses that you might think appropriate. After you finish the eulogy for the man you have never met but just buried, you ask the wife for a glass of water or something cool.
She brings out a small glass of water and explains that is almost all they have because the pump won't work without electricity. You down the glass in one gulp. The digging has left you sweaty and thirsty.
She says while you finish she will go and try to get herself and the kids presentable and pack a couple of things to take with them. She tells you if there is no hospital, she has some friends that she can stay with.
After you fill the grave back up with the sandy soil, she meets you back outside with the kids and a couple of tote bags. She has cleaned herself up and gotten the kids in some clean clothes. You feel so sorry for them and you still wonder about your family back home.
You get them loaded up in the truck, let off the brake and push it on down towards Darlington.
So much for getting home in a couple of hours you think.
You make it to the intersection of 151. There is a convenient store on the corner that is not open and you think to yourself that it's a wonder that it has not been broken into yet. Maybe it has but you can't see any evidence. A few hundred yards down the road you notice a couple of folks on horseback. They look somewhat official and you drive down to where they are.
They are sitting in the parking lot of a long-closed fast food restaurant called "Cindy's". It was a spin off of one of the other similarly named restaurants but it's your guess that it never caught on.
The folks on horseback are both armed and have badges on. You explain what you have just been through and then they notice the wife in the truck. They go and talk to her for a bit. You gather that they are part of a neighborhood militia and they knew the woman in your truck.
They come back and ask if you would be so kind to take her and her kids on down to the auditorium in town. They have set up a temporary shelter down there and they tell you that the woman and her kids will receive aid at that location.
You comply with their request and take them on down into town. As you pass by the raceway you think that there will probably never be another race held there. At least not this year.
You arrive at the auditorium and you notice that the community has set up a care shelter for all the folks in the county. There were lots of folks moving things around. Some of them had horse drawn buggys bringing in barrels of water and bags of food and others in older type cars and four wheelers were bringing in blankets, cots and other supplies. Generators had been set up and emergency lights and power were keeping the folks in electricity and giving them hope.
A lot of the residents from the local nursing homes had made their way there. One of the buggys was actually bringing in some port-o-lets.
You were thinking about how everything has gone back to the old days in a hurry. You watched and you learned about how people were setting themselves up to survive and you needed to get home to get your survival plan up and running.
The woman can't tell you enough how thankful she is and plants a kiss on your cheek. You tell her she's welcome and you watch her as you pull away. She is standing there with her two children and you hope that your wife and kids are not having to go what she just did. "God bless them" you think, and you start grabbing gears towards home again.