The Journal: Crimson Skies: (The Journal Book 3) (8 page)

“Yes, there are certain supplies I’d like to
replenish, and I’d also like some normal things, too. I’d like to
see Emilee in a dress that fits, or at least a skirt, and Jacob
needs shoes. Is the fabric store open? Material would be good to
have.” I turned to Mark. “What would you get if you could?”

“Other than to replace the medical supplies
that we’ve used recently, I can’t think of anything I need that I
don’t already have.” He smiled at me warmly.

“Feed!” I thought suddenly. “Is Lamb Z Divey
open?”

“I’m not familiar with the place. What is
it?” Andrews asked.

“It’s an animal feed store,” I said. “There
is an old song: “Mares eat oats; does eat oats, and little lambs
eat ivy.’ The store name is a play on that: lambs eat ivy – ‘Lamb Z
Divey’. The animals need hay. The chickens need feed and straw, oh,
and cat food and dog food too!”

“I know what we need,” Mark said, “Flour!
This sandwich was a treat, but Allex makes incredible bread, much
better than this, and she needs flour.”

“This will cost a great deal, you
understand,” Colonel Andrews warned. “Inflation has skyrocketed,
and there are no more credit cards. Debit cards are taken, only
because it’s an instant transfer from a bank account.”

“So the banks are operating?” I asked,
thinking about a very large check sitting in my dresser drawer.
There was also a matter of the cash John had left. I didn’t know
how much was there as I had never counted it.

“Yes, only nine in the morning until
noon.”

“So can we come in to shop?”

“Yes, I will make the arrangements. When
would you like to do this?” he took out a notebook and jotted
something down.

“Since tomorrow is Sunday, how about Monday
and Tuesday? That will give us time to make our lists,” I
suggested.

“
Two
days?”

“Yes, I’d like to do it in shifts. I know all
of us would like the freedom of doing a normal thing, but if you
haven’t found who is behind all the attacks and corruption, we’re
still at risk and we can’t leave the houses without
protection.”

“That makes sense. Monday and Tuesday it
is.”

~~~

That night as we snuggled under the covers,
Mark said, “You continue to amaze me, Allex. We have this golden
opportunity to get things, and you think of everyone else except
yourself. Isn’t there anything you want?”

“Yes. I want to see smiles on everyone’s
faces! I want the satisfaction of knowing the animals are going to
make it through the next winter. And I want to spend all the money
I have before it’s not worth anything.”

August 12

I dropped all the bundles of cash on the
kitchen table in front of a very surprised Mark.

“Where did you get all of this?” he asked in
awe.

“John gave it to me when he left. I haven’t
bothered to count it. It’s been sitting in my drawer since I found
it along with that note that said he was leaving. I think we should
take stock of what we have, don’t you?”

Since the cash was still bundled neatly in
groups of fifty-dollar bills, twenty bills to a bundle, the
counting went quickly. John had left behind $28,000.

“Where did he get that much cash, Allex?”

“Remember the mining accident? He got hazard
pay, and that fractured wrist doubled the benefit. I remember him
saying that he requested half of it in cash, the other half going
into his account,” I looked at the stacks on the table. “I never
asked him how much he was given as it wasn’t any of my business,
and considering that we spent some of it, and how much is left
over, and that he took some with him, I’m going to guess it was one
hundred thousand dollars, with fifty thousand in cash,” I
ventured.

Mark leaned back in his chair and let out a
deep breath.

“Even with the hyperinflation, this is still
a great deal of money, Allex!”

“Yes it is. There’s something else I need to
share with you.” I slid the envelope with Sven’s check in it toward
him. “Before you open that, I want you to know that I’m still not
comfortable with having received this. Even after Simon explained
the reasons, I’m still in shock by it.”

Mark looked at me as he opened the envelope
and pulled out the check. He looked back at me sharply, then back
at the check.

“A million dollars?” he gasped. Inside was
also a short note from Sven that I hadn’t seen. He unfolded the
piece of paper.

“I haven’t read that yet, Mark. What does it
say?”

Allexa,

If you’re reading this, then I’m dead. Thank
you for being a true friend to me while I was alive. . I know this
must be a shock to you, but other than my teammates, you’re the
only person I really know here.

Sven

“For being his friend he left you a million
dollars?” Mark asked, still disbelieving.

“It’s the life insurance they all had. Simon
explained when he gave that to me, that Sven wanted someone to
benefit from his death, and since he had no family, I guess that
was me.” I stood and reached for the coffee pot.

“I remember how hard you took his death,
Allex,” Mark said gently. “You really liked him, didn’t you?”

“Yes I did. He was a good person, kind and
gentle, and he had an odd sense of humor that always made me laugh.
“I’m not going to cash it, Mark. No matter how much we need it, it
just doesn’t feel right to me. I only wanted you to know about it.”
I poured us a refill. “So, let’s start making a shopping list! I
doubt we will be spending all of this cash, but if we do, we
do.”

~~~

With the power restored, TV and Internet were
available too. How much we have missed what’s been going on is
frightening.

The earthquakes in Yellowstone and the new
volcano not only haven’t subsided, they’ve spread out, creating a
longer and more dangerous breach along the Continental Divide. The
Great Divide begins in Alaska and crosses into the Yukon, zigzags
south through Canada, and continues into northwestern Montana. From
there, it snakes across Wyoming into Colorado and crosses New
Mexico into South America. It hasn’t affected the entire Divide, at
least not yet, but much of what is west of there, Washington State,
Oregon, Idaho, Nevada, Utah, Arizona and especially California,
have become very unstable. Refugees from all those states are
heading east, and overwhelming the limited resources along the
way.

Maybe having the news again isn’t such a good
idea. I just can’t sleep with the images of the rioting running
around in my head.

August 13

The morning sun shone through the cloud and
ash cover like a great silver smudge in the sky. There was no blue
to be seen, only endless grays in varying depths. I was delighted
and thankful to have the power back on to keep the greenhouse
functioning. Even though there are ground crops still alive in the
garden, there is no way of knowing if they will produce any kind of
a harvest. The plants we have saved in the greenhouse may be our
only source of fresh food for many months.

The dismal sky could not dampen my excitement
of going into town, with guaranteed safety, and having the means to
buy what we needed if it was available. The good mood was
contagious when I explained to the others what we were going to
do.

“Because we still need to keep the houses
guarded, we will have to go to town in shifts. We also have two
days to do what we need to do.”

“Allex thinks we should draw lots to see who
goes when,” Mark said. “Personally, I think she should make the
decision herself.”

“Makes sense to me,” Ken said, “as long as we
all get to go, what difference does it make? Besides, we don’t have
anything to spend, so it doesn’t matter to us.”

“That brings up something else,” I said. “And
I really don’t want any argument with this. John left a lot of
money with me, and we are
all
going to have a share in it.
There are things we need to purchase first because they are
critical to our needs, like animal feed and medical supplies, but
we will all get a certain amount to spend however we want.”

Joshua looked like he was ready to
protest.

“Joshua, your animals are critical food
producers. You will not argue with me! In fact, I would like you
and Jason to be on today’s team, and go to Lamb Z Divey’s first and
get as much hay and straw as you can get on that flatbed trailer.
Plus chicken feed, and dog and cat food.”

“Yes, Ms. Allexa, that does make sense,”
Joshua said.

“Mark and I will be going on both days,” I
said firmly, and no one disagreed. “I think Amanda and Jacob should
come today too. That leaves Eric, Ken, and Karen here to protect
the houses. Tomorrow, Eric, Emi, Ken and Karen come in with us,
again in two separate vehicles. Any questions?” I intentionally
chose Amanda to go in on the first day because of her love of
shopping, and being on the first ‘team’ will make her happy. I want
everyone happy.

~~~

At the security gate our passes were waiting,
like Col. Andrews had promised. Mine and Mark had our names on
them, while the others had ‘visitor’ printed, along with the date.
I noted that Mark and mine also lacked a date, but didn’t say
anything. I made a mental note to ask the colonel about that
another time.

Jason and Joshua headed to Lakeshore Drive to
follow the loop around Marquette to avoid traffic with the trailer.
All of us had charged our cellphones during the night knowing it
was imperative to stay in touch, and Jason was to call if they had
any problems or to let us know when they were done. Before we had
left home, I gave Jason five thousand dollars, and I hoped it would
be enough.

“I think we should meet up at Presque Isle
Park for lunch when you two are loaded up,” I said to Jason and
Joshua. “It will give us a chance to see what restaurants are open
that we can get something for a picnic. It might be difficult
hauling that trailer around, and it will need to be guarded at all
times.”

~~~

In Walstroms, Amanda and Jacob went one
direction while Mark and I went another. There were plenty of
people in the store pushing empty carts, though there were few in
the checkout lines. Maybe it was just a place to be instead of
cooped up at home.

“I really don’t like the way people are
looking at us,” Amanda commented when we crossed paths in the shoe
department. “Have you noticed that very few have anything in their
carts?”

“You might have answered your own concern,”
Mark observed. “We’re unusual. We’re buying, therefore we must have
money. I think perhaps we should stay together from now on.”

This surprised me some and it also pleased me
that Mark was seeing things around him from a different view. He’d
arrived in town from Saginaw very disillusioned, even afraid of
humanity, only to be lulled into the false security of Moose Creek.
I was inwardly relieved that he isn’t hiding from reality.

Amanda had several things for Jacob: shoes,
socks, underwear, and a couple of new toys and books. Also some
clothes for herself and for Jason. She was being very cautious
about what she was selecting and I asked her why.

“Have you seen the price tags? I would never
buy Jacob shoes for a hundred dollars, even though he’s already
growing out of this last pair!”

“Then while we’re here, you should get the
next two sizes up,” I suggested. “Boots too.” She stared at me. “I
can pay for it, Amanda. Get them,” I insisted. “Look, all this
money might not be worth anything at all in another week. We need
to spend it while we can.”

Mark and I added OTC items like peroxide,
alcohol, bandages and Band-Aids to our cart. At the pharmacy, he
presented his medical identification, and was able to purchase
sutures, syringes, and some heavier drugs like morphine and
antibiotics, even though we had to pay for them immediately.
Aspirin, cough syrup, and other pain relievers were in short
supply, so we got a few bottles of each, all at outrageously
inflated prices.

At the checkout, I took a deep breath and
handed over almost a thousand dollars for what we had carefully
selected, and that was above the two thousand for Mark’s medical
purchases. It made me wonder how much the food was going to be.

While we were loading the car with our
purchases, Jason called.

“We’re done, Mom. I’m almost afraid to tell
you how much this cost us,” he said.

“Don’t worry about it, Jason, I’m thankful we
can do this. I need to stop at the food warehouse for flour before
we leave this end of town. We’ll see you at the fountain at Presque
Isle in about a half hour or so.”

We set out for the quick grocery stop and
finding a take-out place.

When Mark pulled up to the fountain, I saw
Joshua sitting on top of the bales of hay with a shotgun in his
hands. Jason was there too, his .308 aimed at a dozen guys crowded
around the trailer.

“Stop here, Mark!” I ordered, quickly called
Colonel Andrews, and explained our situation.

“If you can hold out for a few minutes, Ms.
Smeth, I’ll send a few troops,” the Colonel said before hanging
up.

The National Guard Armory was only a few
blocks away, and two Humvees arrived just in time. The soldiers
poured out of the military vehicles, much to the dismay of the
assailants, who scattered quickly.

It felt odd to have the immediate area sealed
off by our military protectors as I set two large pizzas on the
picnic table.

“VIP treatment, Mom?” Jason chuckled as he
cut up a slice of pepperoni pizza for Jacob and helped himself to a
slice.

“I guess…” I mumbled. “I will have to thank
the colonel. I really didn’t expect this kind of trouble, though I
suppose it shouldn’t be that much of a surprise. We’re spending a
great deal of money, and that was bound to attract attention.”