2nd Earth 2: Emplacement (8 page)

I call the children, who seem to be in their rooms at the moment. Our children come, but the others don’t, so we are sure they misunderstood what was said. I ask them to go and get the rest of the family so I can tell them all at once. That brightens their mood up a little. They run and come back with our new family members. Usually it’s a mad scramble to see who is going to sit on my lap, but tonight Tammy and Tina ask me politely if they can. Now I know something is wrong. When all the children are present, as well as Becky their mom, I start to tell them I would like to explain what they think they heard the other evening. Kathy starts telling me that they will be better and not argue so much anymore. Karen says she will not yell at Teddy, Jerry, and Steve anymore if they can stay with us. Tina and Tammy tell me they will share Zeus with everybody if they can stay.

I tell them I wasn’t aware that Becky wanted to move. Is this something that has come up recently? Teddy says that they overheard us saying that they would have to move soon. He starts to continue but, I raise my hand signaling him that I would like to say something.

“I know what you all think you heard, but what that conversation was about is the new homes we are bringing in. We adults were just explaining to Becky that if she would like to move into one of the new homes, when it is ready for that, we will be more than willing to help her. We don’t anticipate the first house being ready to live in until spring and the ones after that will be when they are. So even if Becky wants to move, which by the way she doesn’t, as long as we don’t mind them living here, it will be at least next summer before that will happen. I guess we should take a vote to see if we want to make Becky, Lisa, Christy, Jerry, and Steve a permanent part of our family. All those in favor say aye.”

Even Zeus barks in the affirmative, so it is as official as it can get. It takes all of about ten minutes before the bickering starts again. Nobody’s really angry, and nobody really means it, so we figure we can let the children be children for a while longer anyway. Little Timmy agrees with me by smiling. Even Robin saying he must have gas doesn’t bother me tonight.

8

Christmas morning comes just like it did when I was a young boy. The children are all waiting on the stairs when we come out of our rooms in the morning. Then they all rush down and check out the presents under the tree. There are presents in the meeting house for everyone, but we all got each other, and the children a bunch of small stuff to make it more exciting for them. We are having a common breakfast, so the women and the older children leave to help get everything ready. The women cooked what they were asked to at home, and are bringing it to the meeting house. Dayna, Becky, and I have the job of getting the younger children ready, and bringing them over when the bell sounds.

The breakfast and the reading of the birth of Christ are a complete success. Everyone gets a couple of presents, which for the adults are mostly clothes. Everyone loves the uniforms we got at the base so we got all of them we could carry and gave them to everyone as presents. The chocolate in the tin boxes is a huge hit, we found enough for everyone in all the groups to have a couple, and still have several cases left. We also found some hard candy in sealed tins like the chocolate, and that is very popular as well.

Unfortunately even on Christmas, we who live on farms have chores that must be done. Eggs need collecting and chickens fed. Cows need fed and milked, and the milk needs to be pasteurized, and stored properly in the freezers. Last, but definitely not least, the horses need fed. They spend most of their time in the pastures like the cows, but since it’s Christmas we want to give them some oats that we found in town. Fortunately no one shirks their duty, and many hands make the work lighter. We are relaxing after the common meal we all shared for an early supper or late lunch, when Teddy comes in and tells me that he, Steve, and Jerry were outside setting up some targets for when they get to shoot the rifles we gave them for Christmas. We told them they can only shoot the guns when they are with us, or when they are hunting with the older young men. Back to Teddy coming in, he is out of breath from running and so are Steve and Jerry. They tell me that they saw some men sneaking around the woods. It looked like they were watching the people who are outside.

I grab my gun, and have Robin call Tim and the others, and tell them what Teddy told us. I ask where they saw the men and head out the door. I am afraid it is the men we ran into when we found Betty and the others. I don’t go directly where they saw them, but I circle around trying to get behind them. I get to the woods behind the barn without being seen, at least no one shot at me yet. I can hear voices whispering, but I can’t make out what they are saying. I work my way around until I can come up behind three of them. If this is the same group, there are three more, and these guys do look familiar. I hear an owl hoot, and look to my right to see Tim working his way around to where I am. Apparently he saw me before I saw him.

The three we can see don’t seem to be carrying guns, or any other weapons that we can see. We decide to ask them what they are doing here. We step out of from behind the trees, and they spin around surprised to see us. They see our guns and tell us they don’t want any trouble, they just saw our settlement, and wondered how many people live here. They explain that they have never seen lights, and the houses are in much better shape than any they have ever seen. They say what drew them here, is the smell of food that is like nothing they have ever tasted. I recognize the one doing the talking as the leader of the group in that city. I ask him where the rest of their friends are. We hear a voice behind us saying that they are about twenty feet away. The one talking tells us we have nothing to worry about. They were just looking and wishing they had somewhere like this to live.

They all come up and join their friends. They say they parked their bikes down the road, and walked back to see how big this settlement is. By now, the rest of our guys find us, and ask if there is any trouble. Tim and I tell them that for once, we didn’t have to go looking for new friends, they came to us. George and Kyle are two of the men that came to see if they would be needed. The new men recognize them and tell them how sorry they are that George got hurt that time. They say they were looking for people to join up with, but now realize they went about it the wrong way. They say that after meeting us, and the way we kept our guns on them, they realized that maybe they were scaring everyone else the way we scared them.

George and Kyle both tell them there are no hard feelings, but if they are lying they will definitely regret it. We invite them into the meeting house, and call the council together to decide whether or not we let them prove that they are serious. While they are being asked questions, they get to taste the ham, sweet potatoes, and home baked pie that they must have smelled as they were riding past. I don’t blame them; I think it smells great too. We have a decision before they are through with dinner. We decide to give them a chance to show us that they are serious about wanting to be part of our family. They will stay in the dormitory, which has been losing occupants fairly regularly to matrimony. We make sure the new people realize that sex is frowned upon unless the people are married, and forcing someone to have sex with you will get you sent packing. So far we have had no incidents like that, and we would like to keep it that way.

It is very nice to have a situation like the one today end peaceably, and with no bloodshed. The men who joined us today seem like nice enough people, but only time will tell. Tonight we are sitting here enjoying the twins, who are reading us a story for a change. They do okay, but the book they chose is not quite at their level of reading, although the story is very interesting. Betty stops over to tell us that Angie is doing much better, her cough seems to have broken, and she is able to eat more solid food now. She tells us that she hopes she was mistaken about the men we took in today. She even says that when she thinks about it, there may well have been a big misunderstanding. At least here, they will have a chance to either prove they belong, or prove that they don’t belong. I know we are all hoping that they are serious.

The day after Christmas is Sunday, so we rest from our labors, or at least we only do the same ones we did yesterday. Our six new family members are up bright and early to help with the chores. They have to be shown how to do everything, but so did we all. We gave them all new fatigue jackets, and fatigue pants and shirts to wear when they are working. They seem to be as excited as kids with their new clothes, and the tins of chocolate they received confused them for a moment, but once they tasted it, they decided that they could learn to like that a lot. The days go by and we turn the calendar to start another new year. The work is going well with the help of our new friends. This is the first time they have done anything like the work we do, but they are definitely willing and prove to be hard workers. I had an opportunity to cut firewood with two of them this week, and they both said that all they want out of life is what they see us having here. They both said that they knew their lives were empty, and had no meaning until they just happened to be riding by on Christmas. Now they know they can do something more constructive than ride from place to place.

The weather is cold but the work on the basement and the tunnels is going forward. The basement in this first house is deeper than most, because Billy would like to live here when it is completed. Since he is over seven feet tall, we wanted the basement to be deep enough that he doesn’t have to walk all hunched over, all the time. We chose the house that we are putting in here, with him in mind as well. The ceilings are higher than most and we have the option of making the doorways high enough for him to walk through without having to stoop. It’s just some of the things, which most of us who are average height, take for granted, but that make his life more difficult. We have managed to get three more of the homes to where they will probably be placed. We have been discussing whether or not we need a basement under every home, or if we can just add a large shed type building. We can also put the tunnel system under those homes by putting a trap door leading down into the tunnel.

I know we sound a bit paranoid, but if you have been some of the places we have been, and seen man’s inhumanity toward other men, then you may see security the way we do. Not one member of our groups doubts that we will need the ability to escape without detection some time. We have also read in the history of this area, that hurricanes have come this far inland before and most likely will again. There are even reports of tornadoes hitting this area, and our tunnels will be excellent storm shelters, as well as a way to get back and forth in severe weather. We have found plenty of the large pipes that I have been referring to as conduit, so we might just as well use it. Our biggest problem is that Jenna and James are our only masons at this time, and they can only be in one place at a time. We are taking care of that though, because we have several men that want to learn to do what they are doing, and are working very hard right alongside them.

Josh, who was kind of the leader of the group that joined us on Christmas, and Isaac, who is another of that group, are working like mad men learning all they can. They are already able to work on one area while James and Jenna work on another. We expect that we will be able to break into two or three crews soon, and really get to work on the projects at the other groups as well. We have decided to look for more of the pre-fabricated homes, and if we can find more, we would like to start at the other groups and work toward each other, forming like a big square of homes with a roughly 20 square miles of land in the middle. It will take quite a while to accomplish our goals, but what else have we got to do, besides make sure we have enough food to eat and see if we can find any others who need a place to live.

The days go by, and every day we see that we are getting closer to our objectives and growing closer as a family. We are now through January, and the basement and foundation is almost ready to have the house put into place. I am still not sure how we are going to accomplish that, but the others assure me they know what they are doing. I hope so, with my luck I will probably be standing in the worse possible place if something does go wrong. I have been spending most of my time at the mill, where we are cutting lumber to be used for building and other projects. We have been going out into the woods and finding the hardwood trees that are already down that are still solid. That’s like maple, walnut, oak, locust, and ash. We have found that some woods cut better than others, and some dull the blade up pretty badly when you cut them. We are getting a pretty good supply of lumber cut and stacked to season before using it.

Teddy, Jerry, and Steve have become very good hunters. They have another friend about their age who is learning also. His name is Trey. He is from Ryan’s group, but seems to spend more time at our house now than he does at home. We have had some weddings that really didn’t surprise anyone. The dormitory for the single guys is losing many of its occupants, but we have more young men that will be old enough to stay there soon. There always seems to be a time in a young man’s life when he just wants to be on his own, even if it is only a hundred yards from his parents. Tomorrow is the day we are going to put Billy’s house on the foundation, and get it ready to live in. It will take more than one day to get it ready, but at least we will be able to work indoors to finish it.

The morning is finally here, and we have everyone from all the groups here to watch us set the first house. No one seems to doubt that we will accomplish this task, and their confidence makes me more confident. James and Jenna say they have done this before and it is no big deal. I know we have to remove the axles and the tires from the two sides, then slide them onto the foundation and connect the two halves. Naturally we have the usual jokes, about not realizing we wanted to put that house on this foundation. They really know what they are doing, because it takes less than an hour to get the two halves pushed as close together as we can push them. Now James gets this device that looks like a come-a-long, that he fastens to the two sides of the house. He has a second device for the other end, and then they draw the two sides tight up against each other.

The rest of the day is spent anchoring the two halves to the foundation and bolting the two halves together. Tomorrow we will tie the siding in, and begin working on the inside to get it ready to be lived in. Of course we will have to connect the basement stairs, and finish off the basement with shelving units, and maybe even an extra room down there. The houses that are going to be put on a slab instead of a basement will be easier and take less time. This house already has the tunnel in connecting it to the house we live in, and the tunnel goes out the other side to the slab where the other house will be put. Crews are also working on joining all the houses that already exist in the group. Josh, Isaac, Jake, and Adam seem to be everywhere today, helping with the house. They along with Ben and Hank have proven to be some of our best workers, and in this group that’s saying something. Everyone helps no matter what the job is.

When the day is finally over and we can relax a little or at least I could, if Robin and Dayna would let me. They want to know what I am going to do to help Josh win over Betty, who they claim he is in love with. I saw him trying to talk to her today, I say trying, because every time he got close she walked away. Something tells me she still holds a grudge about when George got hurt. Now George has been spending a lot of time with Marge. He is a little older than she is, but they make a nice looking couple. Dayna, Robin, Charity, Carrie, Cassie, and Melissa think it’s their duty to play match maker for our group. In this case they want me to talk to Betty and see why she doesn’t like Josh. They don’t like my attitude when I tell them that if Betty doesn’t like him that only leaves about thirty other single women in the groups that would jump at the chance to marry Josh. All the other guys seem to have met girls that at least talk to them regularly. My loving wives tell me that if I don’t try to help, that’s more than we will be doing so I figure what the heck. I can at least talk to Betty.