Unprecedented Events Ch. 05

"Hold me up and I'm going to through the roof. I'll prop on the logs and shoot them with the silencer." I was getting ready.

"Hell no, you're over 200 pounds. We can't hold you up long enough." Jess said.

"I'll do it. Push me up. I'll move the thatch and I'll do it." Mama was right

"She's right. I can't hold her up." I lifted her up onto my shoulder

Aunt Linda handed her the rifle when we heard something else.

Boom, boom, boom.

"Don't shoot. They are gone. Two are dead." Came a male voice from outside.

"I know someone is in there. I see the fire. I do not want any trouble. I've been tracking these hounds for a couple of days. They killed my brother. My sister is badly hurt and my dad has been gone since before we were attacked by these dogs. Im a long way from home. I need help. Do you have medicine?" He sounded sincere.

I spoke.

"I don't have much.."

"I'm willing to trade for antibiotics and pain relievers. We have tools and kerosene." He said in earnest.

"I'm going going to come out. If you shoot me you will die!" I returned.

"I'm going to place my guns against a stump and walk 15 paces from them. I have everything to lose. I'm asking for help and if there is any humanity left I'm begging you. Help me help my family."

I slowly opened the door and he stood there with his hands in the air. He was dirty with a rough beard. I saw desperation in his eyes. Mama followed me out and held a shot gun in his direction but didn't point it on him.

"What's your name?" He asked.

"James." I gave him my middle name. "And yours?"

"William, but everyone calls me Bill."

"Bill, if this is some bull shit, you will lose." Mama was fierce in her reply.

"Ma'am, I just need a few supplies. I was a police officer in Toccoa. I was down visiting family when all this happened. As far as I know, I've lost almost everything. I'm just trying to save what I have left." His voice trembled as he spoke.

I stepped to the door whispering.

"Get me thirty of the penicillin pills."

"What injuries are you treating?" I asked him out loud.

"Bites from these dogs. They got infected and her arm is swollen. She has a fever but I'm not sure how high it is. She is in pain but it's not unbearable." Came his reply.

Whispering again.

"Ace bandage and few gauze pads. A bottle of peroxide and iodine. A small bottle of Advil and 10 hydrocodone pills. Get a bar of soap, tooth paste, a razor, something for him to eat and a change of clothes. We are going to take a walk. Aunt Linda guard the cabin. Mama you're coming with us."

I spoke to Bill.

"Bill, don't make me regret this. I need you to go with us. You look bad. I'm gonna be honest. I don't trust you but I want to believe you. In this pack are your items you need. I'm going to do you one more favor."

We walked in the direction of the pool. Blind folded him until the half way point and let him lead while Mama brought up the rear.

The shelter came into view and I began to tell him about the spring.

"Mister this is ours. You are the only other person who knows about it."

I opened the pack and handed him two cans of beenie weenies, a plastic spoon and a bottle of sweet tea.

"Eat while we talk for a minute."

He inhaled the food.

"You can clean up here. You will not be out of my sight but you are welcome to use this to bathe and shave. You can eat with us tonight. I will put you up in a place where you can sleep. The door will be locked but you will be safe."

He hung his head and didn't speak. He choked back emotion as Mama and looked at him.

"Thank you. I don't know what to say. Thank you." He grabbed my hand and shook it.

"I'm going to wait here. She is going in the shed and build a fire. Wash your clothes and give them to me. "

He didn't speak much any more. He looked terrible. Obviously his people haven't fared as well as we had.

I saw odd scars on his back. Three of them coming from his shoulder at an angle downward toward his spine. He was thin to the point that his ribs where visible from on his back and his shoulder bones were more pronounced than what a persons would be at a normal weight.

"What are those scars?" I asked flatly.

"I was in Afghanistan a few years back. We were clearing a village when a rpg hit the hut we were in. I was hit with shrapnel. Got out on a medical. That place is a hell hole." He didn't want to talk about it.

He looked presentable. We walked him back to the cabin with him blindfolded half way. I don't know why I blindfolded him at all. He already tracked the dogs to us and knew where we were but it gave me some peace of mind.

I didn't let him see everyone. He didn't need to know how many of us there were.

The meal was cooked and I escorted him to our cellar. He didn't like the idea but he wasn't in charge. We talked a while before I left him.

"We can work out a trade system to help each other. Labor, food items. We can still be civilized." He was making some good points.

"You tracked the dogs. Where did you track them to?"

"To be honest, I saw you on the road. The dogs came by me fast and I hid in a ravine off of that road back there. Sorry I don't know the name." He pointed back toward Concord. "I crossed so many fields and went through so many woods I just don't know where I am. I know the direction I came from and can find my way back with the compass you saw in my bag."

"How far that way did you go? So you followed us and not the dogs?"

"No sir, I followed the dogs. I saw you guys on the road and avoided you on purpose until I saw the cabin. I knew someone was in there but didn't know it was you. Do you know how far I am from Chalybeate Springs Road?"

"Yeah, it's a solid half days walk from here if you keep moving and stay on the main road. In the morning we will eat and I'll get you started back. We will go half way and I will make sure you go the right direction but I won't go any farther with you."

"Deal. Thank you for everything. I'd like to keep in touch. We can help each other I'm sure." He almost craved human interaction.

"Listen, do you know the feed store on Johnsonville Road?" He asked.

"Yup, haven't made it that far to look around." I knew exactly that it was about 6 hours walk from or cabin.

"Well, we've gathered seed, animal feed, chemicals, and have nearly cleaned it out. There a ton of good crop seed packaged up. If we can work out something were we both benefit, we can trade seed and feed grains. We don't have the farm fields close by like you do."

"Let me sleep on it." He won me over but I wouldn't let him know. I had to play hard ball.

"Get some rest, man. I'm locking the door for everyone's safety. You'll be fine." I locked the cellar and immediately met with my family.

"What do you think, Rusty?" Jess asked. She was scared to death of another man, especially after what she had been through.

"Rusty, I don't trust him. I don't trust anyone but us anymore." Aunt Linda had no use for anyone else anymore. She was cold in her statement.

"I talked to him for a while. Papa always said that if a man didn't look you in the eye, he had something to hide. He never looked away or fished for answers. I don't want to believe him but part of me does. Do I trust him? No, not yet anyway but time will tell."

"I listened to him and Rusty talk at the pool. I watched his face. I think he is desperate for help. He was clearly grateful for what we've done but can't show it. He is scared too. I don't trust him either but, like Rusty said, time will tell." Mama was wise.

"What ever you think. He looks familiar though. I can't place him." Beck sounded puzzled.

I didn't sleep. I walked and kept watch over the camp. During the early morning, I heard the dogs howling and barking. It sounded like they were killing one of their own.

Mama was up and cooked a big breakfast. Eggs, grits, fried spam, biscuits, coffee and milk made from powdered milk. It was still about half an hour before daylight when I woke Bill.

"Oh my goodness, ma'am this is so good. I haven't had a real breakfast in...I don't remember when. Wow has it been that long?"

"Yes sir, eat up. We got to move." I wanted to get moving while it was still a little dark.

The only people he met were me and Mama. He knew there were others but didn't ask questions. He could see someone peering through the cracks in the door and would wave trying to be friendly. At this point the less he knew, the better off we would be.

"Alright I'm gonna blindfold you. Spin around till you feel dizzy and keep spinning til I say stop." I instructed.

"Let's go, walk fast." I steadied him as he wobbled for a bit.

We walked and I took him through woods and across a field as a detour. Once we got on the road i started negotiations.

"What we are going to do is establish a meeting place to trade. I will set the place. It will be easy for both of us to get to."

He agreed.

"If it isn't an even trade. No deal. Nobody will come out on top. If we do this it will be right and fair."

"Understood. We can make it work." He was fairly quiet and listened.

We walked for a couple of hours before we came to the bait store on Woodland Highway. I pulled his blind fold off.

"Well the building is still here and has a roof on it. This will be our rendezvous spot."

"Haha. I remember this place. My dad used to bring me here when I was a kid to buy bait and beer before he took me to potato creek to fish the bream beds. Man those were some good days." His eyes lit up as a flood of memories hit him.

We found a note pad and some pens and sat down at a table behind the counter and discussed our needs and wants.

His list consisted of mainly food, medicinal items, and oddly, diaper rash ointment.

"You have a baby?" I asked.

"No, but my sister gave birth about four months ago. August 18th she gave birth to a big baby boy. I think that's how the dogs found us. She was very loud during delivery and when the baby cries I think it sounds like prey to them. They have plagued us every since. That's why I'm out here. To kill the dogs and get supplies. I haven't found much other than what was lying around from being thrown by the tornados."

Our needs were tools, seed, hardware cloth and building materials like nails and screws. I knew that there was Ellerbee's Hardware and General Store was on Chalybeate Springs Road in the unincorporated portion of Chalybeate Community.

"Well. I can meet you here with most of what you need. Give us two days and we can have it all, probably." I told him.

"I can have you some seeds; crowder pea, lima beans, purple hull peas. I'll bring a selection and we will work it out. Does a 'dollar for dollar' deal sound good?" He asked.

"Same time two days from now." With that, we shook hands.

I pointed him in the direction he need to go and said.

"If you get to the AME church you've gone too far. Turn around, it's the road back on your right."

"Thanks for everything James." He still called me by my middle name.

"I look forward to seeing you again soon." He waved as he began to walk away.