Hell Happened (19 page)

“Speaking of that,” Jerry said as they walked into the shelter. “Let’s start on that first, right after breakfast.”

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For the next week, there was an unspoken rule that the shelter and farm needed to be the first priority. Everyone knew it was uncomfortable and crowded and everyone had to make the effort to not lash out when angry, although harsh words did get spoken and brows were furrowed more times than could be counted.

Jerry and Randy, with John as their gopher, worked to repair one of the two wind turbines. It had taken three full days to get it working properly and they had to use parts from the second one they found that was beyond repair. Electrical usage in the shelter was brought down to a minimum and even then the gas generator had to be started to keep the batteries charged for the work in the barn.

Mike, Eddie, Tia and Hannah did a lot of the farm work. Tia had a farming background in upstate New York and knew how to drive tractors and other heavy equipment. Mike and Eddie bowed to her expertise and Jerry just had to give her only very general instructions on which fields needed harvesting and which ones weren’t worth the effort anymore.

With the cows free ranging, there was no need to feed them every morning and night. Eddie got permission to take down the fences and allow the cows to go wherever they felt the need. The second day only two hadn’t returned for morning milking but surprisingly, by the end of the week, the herd went from 12 cows up to 23. Jerry figured the hurricane had torn down fences all over the state and the cattle joining his herd just wanted to be with other cows.

Kellie spent most of her time improving the inside of the shelter to make it as comfortable for everyone as possible. She continued making a list of stuff they needed, now more blankets and inflatable beds, storage containers and dry goods. She also spent time in the garden and was able to save some of the peas, tomatoes, carrots, potatoes and sweet corn.

Monica began organizing the loot she, Randy and Eddie had gotten. The survival magazines were stacked on the dining table for everyone to read regularly and look through for tips or tricks to help the shelter survive.

With everyone else fully employed, Tony felt like he wasn’t doing his fair share and insisted the CB antenna be re-erected and the shortwave radio antenna get attached to the very top of the lattice tower. When Jerry balked, it was Mike who came to
Tony’s
defense. “How would you feel not being able to contribute, Jerry?”

“We still have things which need repaired or replaced that are far more important than the antenna,” Jerry pointed out. “If I could, I would, but we need to get power re-established and repairs done to the barn and garage before some other storm comes up and slaps the shit out of us.”

“Tell you what, you tell me what to do to get that antenna up, and I’ll have Tony help me,” Mike suggested. “I’m not much help farming, and Tony isn’t doing anything but sitting there moping. If we can do it, we’ll get it done. If not, you’re not out of any time.”

Jerry let the foolish old man have his way, but he was right.

Tia had Mike doing very light work that really didn’t have to be done right away, but that she’d made up so he’d feel useful. Jerry wouldn’t be losing any great amount of time by having Mike help Tony.
Tony’s
better mood immediately affected everyone and Jerry even let Randy loose for a couple hours late in the afternoon to use the chain saw to remove the tree that had downed the antenna tower.

The next morning Tony, despite being in pain and using crutches, helped Mike on the top of the hill. They rolled logs out of the way, to be picked up later by Tia, Eddie and Hannah with the tractor, and for the next two days, Mike and Tony worked to get the antenna tower’s lattice work straightened and braced. Tia, it seemed, also had a talent for stick welding and she did the brace-work for the two men.

Just before dark on the second day of work on the tower, they raised the antenna tower on its foundation and bolted it in place. The guide wires were tightened and coaxial cables zip tied to the frame and buried deep enough to avoid anyone tripping over them. Tony had spent the day snaking the coaxial for the CB and shortwave transmitter through the shelter and hooking them to the radio.

Tony wanted to try the equipment that evening, but Jerry put him off for another 24 hours while the batteries fully recharged. The one wind turbine was spinning slowly in the gentle Alabama wind, but it was charging the batteries. The balance was off on the one propeller Jerry had made and he and John sanded smooth. Jerry set the rpm rate of the propeller to six to keep the 15-foot tower from shaking itself apart until he could balance the whole thing.

Jerry promised that once the batteries were fully charged, Tony could turn on the equipment and give it all a try. He also let everyone know that he and Randy would be re-building the water wheel for the next two days at least. Jerry and John found the paddle wheel about a mile downstream, lodged on some trees when Randy was helping erect the tower.

Mike clapped Tony gently on the shoulder and told him they’d worked too fast, but tomorrow they could work on building a shelving unit for the equipment so it wasn’t setting on the floor and taking up space on the couch.

The following morning at breakfast, Tia mentioned that while she appreciated the use of the room, she wanted her own shelter. Jerry said he too had been thinking about enlarging the place but wasn’t sure they had the room to do it now that just about every square inch of the shelter had something stored in it.

“Why do we have to build underground? I want something to live in that has windows. I really miss windows.”

Jerry scratched his chin and thought about it. “Well, I have thought about it, but we really don’t have the kind of experience to build a house that you could live in.”

“What about those houses on wheels?” asked Hannah, who was playing with Molly on the floor.

“What about that, Jerry?” Kellie asked. “If we could find some modular homes still on their wheels, do you think we could drive one or two of them here for houses?”

Jerry had never considered it, so now he did. “No. I don’t see how. There’s no way to get one down the roads from the highway. We’d have to clear a path and that could take days or weeks,” he said shaking his head. “And I can drive tractors and forklifts, but I don’t know anything about driving a semi. I think I’d probably wreck it. I don’t think its practical Hannah. Sorry.”

“Mommy can drive a semi!” She said brightly.

Everyone setting at the table looked over at Tia. She smiled and admitted, “Yeah, I did it for a year before I met my husband. But Jerry’s right, a modular home wouldn’t work. If we cleared enough room to get it in, it’d be like carving a path for anyone wanting to find the farm.

“But what about an RV?
We could pull it on the back of your truck easily enough and we would be comfortable in one of them if we could find one.” Jerry arched his eyebrows to consider it, so Tia went on. “Actually, that’d work better. I could use the tractor to clear out a spot near the trees down that way,” she said, pointing the same way as the garden. “I’m sure we could get it plumbed and electrified without too much trouble. If we found one with electric stove and refrigerator, we’d have more room for everyone.”

“That’s a good idea, Tia, Hannah,” Mike said. “What do you think, Jerry?”

“Hey,
dad,” Randy chipped in, “if she gets one, can
me and Eddie get one for ourselves? I’d like living in a camper with windows.”

“If they get one, I want one!” Monica said petulantly.

“I wouldn’t mind not sleeping in a cellar anymore myself,” added Mike.

Jerry could see he was out numbered, but he wasn’t ready to start a RV park on his back 40.

“First off, I don’t know where to start looking for RV,” Jerry said, lifting one finger, “second, even if I did, the hurricane probably destroyed everything around.” Another finger came up, “thirdly, there is still a lot of debris and repairs to do here, and fourthly,” another finger, “we’d probably have to clean the road to get it in here. That’s a lot of work to expend right now when we still haven’t finished what we need done now.”

With every finger he raised, the faces of everyone in the room dropped from big grins to straight lips and a few frowns. It had been a difficult week for everyone, working from nearly sun up to sun set and all were starting to feel a little frayed at the edges.

To finish off he raised his thumb, Eddie and Randy looked like they were ready go up to their room and Monica went back to looking through the magazine she had. “And fifthly, if we do it, we’ll go after one and bring it back here and see if it will work before we start bringing in a convoy of RVs here.” The smiles and good cheer in the room was back instantly.

“But first we need to finish fixing the barn and garage, and get the water wheel generator fixed for power. And then we’ll go over a list of other things we need before we go, just like the last time.” It wasn’t much of a consolation, but it gave everyone something to work toward.

Hannah clapped her hands, making Molly bark. When Molly barked Boomer barked and ran for the door. Everyone laughed at the big dog as he cocked his head and looked back at Molly, as if asking her to open the door for him. Hannah got up from the floor and let both dogs outside. Both started barking at nothing and having a good time playing.

“Let’s plan on five days from tomorrow. That’ll give us time to finish the repair work on the farm, Kellie and Monica time to finish inventorying what we have here, and the rest of us time to make a wish list.”

“730 George Roy Parkway, Calera, Alabama, 35040,” Monica said. Everyone looked at her, wondering what she was talking about. She smiled. “Ad in this magazine says they have a huge selection of RVs, and it’s just 45 miles from here.”

Eddie chipped in his two cents.
“Road trip!”

Chapter 6

F
ive
days of hard work had the shelter back in shape. The water wheel had been repaired and the batteries were now charging well even with the moderate use from the equipment in the shelter and barn. The battery storage system and power grid Jerry used had been set up by his friend Nick from the church. Nick had scavenged the batteries from his marine business and hooked them up in the cellar for Jerry for a minimal price.

Jerry had purchased most of the equipment off the internet like the lights and kitchen accessories. The stove and refrigerator he picked up at auction. He installed them himself as they arrived via the big brown truck. The refrigerator had arrived on the last day before UPS would never deliver again.

While checking the batteries in the basement, Jerry found three of the 24 packs in the power set had failed to recharge. He made a note to get replacements and extras. The internet wouldn’t help him anymore and he’d like to keep this set up working as long as possible.

Tony had been thrilled to get the shortwave radio turned on finally. Everyone sat around him expectantly when the unit came on. He ran through the dial on several bands but heard nothing.  The excitement slowly faded over the next hour as no voices from the airwaves came through the speakers. There was an automated signal in the 900 megahertz range but when Tony tried the microphone, Monica noticed it wasn’t working. It took
and
hour with small screw drivers for Tony to find out it never would.

A new microphone was added to the list of wants for the shelter.

Tia suggested some more equipment for cooking outdoors. All of Jerry’s equipment had spread to the countryside with the winds. She was big on cooking on the grill and added charcoal to her list. John was hoping for a quad his size and Hannah wanted M&Ms.

Kellie and Monica wrote down a few things to make their lives easier, but nothing of real importance for the run Jerry and Mike were planning. Randy and Eddie were the same with the exception of the addition of a video surveillance system to augment the early warning system Eddie had suggested earlier.

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The morning finally came for the trip. Kellie walked with Jerry to the garage. Randy and Eddie had gone down early to make sure the truck and SUV were prepared. Something they’d also done the previous night. Jerry mentally added to his list a mobile CB unit for the Escalade.

“We’re going to spend as much time as we can on the highway,” he told her. “I know we’ll be going by a lot of towns and possibly drawing attention to ourselves, but I want to get there and get back here as soon as we can.

“We know where we’re going and we should be able to get there in less than two hours if we take the interstate, even if there is a lot of debris.”

You and the kids, Mike, Monica and Tony should be fine here. We haven’t seen anyone else since before the hurricane and Mike thinks the vigilantes who were out there,” he couldn’t bring himself to talk about Jeff yet, “were probably killed in the hurricane or at least are too busy trying to find a way to survive to come after the shelter.”

“We’ll take care of the shelter. You take care too,” she said, taking his rugged hand in her hand that was quickly becoming as calloused as his. The intimacy was as close as they’d gotten. He was in no hurry to push her, and she set the pace. Both seem okay with it.