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Return to the Farm. staticflicker
My promise fulfilled, we set out the next morning, rather crowded in the Wrangler. The girl, whose name was Ann, sat between me and a soldier in front, Jim, the woman and her husband in the back. The jeep behind us had Tom and Mira in front and the boy and another soldier in back. The two soldiers had Uzi’s, so did I under my seat. The rest of the men had handguns, even the boy, in case we ran into trouble. But we didn’t. I drove to North Hyde, Vermont along deserted roads. I was glad we met no bands, no hungry gangs with guns. But I had the strangest feeling that the whole country might be this way, deserted.
I found the path entrance just as I’d left it, hidden with branches on my way out. As we approached the house I could see Bill at his window with his gun. A moment later Jane and Miranda were running towards us to open the gate, then full of hugs for me as I stepped out, and wondering at this entourage of strangers. I'd only been away a week.
Introductions were made all round, and I showed the farmer and his family their new lodgings, Miranda following close behind, eyeing the girl, as Anna kept looking back at her, holding her father's hand for the tour.
She asked if they were going to be staying awhile.
“Yes” I told her”. “That’s why I’m showing them their new lodgings. They’re going to help you and your mother with the farm”.
A minute later the two girls were talking. Then they ran off together to see the horses. When they came back, they were holding hands. Friendships between children form fast.
The farmer was just as happy: “Well this is a real farm, well-hidden too, and our lodgings are just fine. He showed his wife to their new bedroom and bed so she could rest. Bill had come down to meet everyone, while I wondered where I would lodge them for the night. The girls had already run up to Miranda’s room and were delighted to sleep there. The soldiers could sleep on cots and the couch at Bill's, at his suggestion. I think he had drinking and movies in mind. He had a huge collection, especially war movies, thanks to Jane, and something they hadn't seen in years.
Jane said Tom and Mira could have her old bedroom. She hadn't slept in it since Rick’s death and didn’t want to. She’d been with her daughter, cuddled in the kid's room, their beds pulled together.
That left Jim and Jane. When they first met, he told her he was the doctor who met Nancy and me over three years ago and took part in Nancy’s leg operation, that she was doing fine in their hospital in Manchester, and she’d be back in another two months. But when she did come back, she’d walk perfectly. For this Jane grabbed his hand in thanks, saying Nancy was her dearest friend.
After a fine meal in our dining room, which Jane and the girls prepared, in our dining room, the table was once again full and festive, loud with merry talk, the beer and wine flowing. But to me it seemed distant. I felt like the odd man out, without Nancy.
The farmer took a plate to his wife, the soldiers went up to Bill’s for some whisky, the girls and the boy ran off, Tom and Mira went to check out their soft bed, while Jim and Jane sat on the front porch, with a small fire lit in a metal pan between them, still drinking wine. I went to my study and sat alone, lit a pipe and pondered this strange and new situation.
Two happy girls. Happy Family-sister-feature
The next morning I woke up in my study chair, which reclined. I found Jim still asleep on the couch in the living room. I went upstairs and took a hot shower. Mira was next in line, draped in one of Jane’s bathrobes, waiting outside the door. She hadn’t had a hot shower in three years and the eagerness on her face told the story.
Outside I found the farmer and his son, walking from the barn.
“That tractor started right up” he told me, “and you have plenty of seed, bushels of every kind, all dry and good. What were you plannin on doin, feeding half the state”?
“No, just feeding us for ten years. But you have at it. Plant as much as you can. We’re going to need it in six months. You’ll see”.
“My wife is getting better” he said, “lookin flush again. She sat right up in bed this morning. I can’t thank you enough for all this”.
He came up to me and awkwardly shook my hand.
“Well you and your boy are in charge of the farm now. You can start today. Jane will show you where things are. Use her and Tom and Mira and the two girls for anything they can help with, Bill too. But go easy on him. He had a bullet wound to the gut four weeks ago and stitches. Jim needs to look at it today because it’s still sore. Use Jim too. I know he’s a doctor but teach him a few things about farming. I have to leave with the soldiers back to base. We’ll set out tomorrow morning. I don’t know how long I’ll be gone. You and Bill are in charge of this place when I’m away. I have to be with Nancy”.
That evening, at dinner, I told everyone how they could help. The sleeping arrangements I left to them. Bill had been examined by Jim, who said he had a slight infection in his shoulder, but the gut would heal. There was nothing he couldn’t cure with the medicine kit Nancy left behind. The Vodka didn’t quite cut it.
Driving back to camp with the soldiers, around midday, we decided to stop in the deserted town of Lebanon, to stretch our legs and maybe find some food. We split up, each with an Uzi or handgun. I found a house with a few skeletons in the bedrooms, but in the basement a stock of cans, some corned beef, fit for lunch. But one of the soldiers brought a scraggly young man with him, by the arm. He looked about twenty.
He said he lived here and knew where others were. I gave him a pill, told him what it did and asked: “How many”?
“Oh a dozen at least”. “Then why aren’t you together”” was my next question.
“We don’t do that anymore”, he replied. “We always fought over food. Now we just fend for ourselves, live mostly alone, and when we meet we’re friendly. Sometimes we sleep together when we’ve found a good meal to split”. “Any women”? I asked.
“Yes, three. But they’re all in bad shape, sick”.
I took out another handful of pills, in an envelope. I’d brought along five hundred.
“Now you go out and find all these people and give one to each, or more if they know others who you don’t. One is all you need and you’ll be all better in a few days. This is the vaccine. We need to spread these out. It will cure everyone”.
He nodded, happy to comply. He was a simple-minded lad. The corned beef cheered him up and revived his spirits.
“What about gangs”? I asked.
“They’re gone too, up North, lookin for gas. There’s none here. We checked every car and station. But they wouldn’t take me or the others, too much baggage, they said”.
I could see why they didn’t take him. He was sick, a bit out of it, but alive.
“Who are you guys and why are you so nice”?
“We’re trying to restore what’s left, and you can help us. Spread these pills to all you know and gather them right here in the middle of town. We’ll send a bus for you tomorrow, by mid-day. We have lots of food there and a hospital, for you and everyone else.
Even the sickest can come. If they can’t walk on their own just leave them put for tonight but give them a pill right away. The soldiers will have some stretchers to pick them up. Don’t worry about the Church. We’re in charge now. We’ll give you a nice place to stay and a job, a new life and food every day. So gather all you can. The sick will be better in a week with medical attention. You can go in the red marked houses now. You can’t get sick and that’s where I found this food”.
“We never go in those” he said.
“But what’s the difference. You’re already sick and starving”?
“It’s a habit, I guess”, was all he could respond. He wasn’t thinking straight, probably the disease affecting his mind.
We left him all the food the soldiers had brought from camp, and as I was thinking about it, I gave him another handful of pills.
“Spread these to all the people in nearby towns. They’ll probably give you some food for them. Tell them to gather in this same spot and we’ll send a bus each day. I hope to see you in Manchester soon. Take care of everyone you find”.
“Thanks mister, I’ll be here with others, I promise”.
I didn't expect much from him, but a plan was forming as we spoke. I'd have the General send a detachment here. They could collect the sick and explore all the red houses, probably full of supplies, and each day the bus could make the trip back and bring them along with all the loot they found. This place was a gold mine of untapped potential.
On our ride home I let a soldier drive. I wanted to think. “We're facing a demoralized, almost dead set. They won’t put up any resistance. This territory is harmless. We can just move in and take it all over, without a fight”.
Then I thought: “If these people are so far gone and weak, the people to the south must be just as shattered, even the military there, and the Church”.
I pondered ways I might contact them and see if this hunch was true. I could go to Connecticut and parley with whoever was on their demilitarized zone, if there were any. Then I thought about how to get there, and another idea came to mind.
“The fishermen need no fuel and they travel up and down the coastline daily. I need to talk to them. They can distribute pills to the farmers and others far to the south. Forget fishing. They can trade the pills for food and come back in a week loaded with supplies. They can sail all the way down to Florida with thousands of pills. Why didn’t I think of this before”?
We arrived back in camp late afternoon and drove right in the main gate. The general was delighted to see me safe and sound.
He said “Now it’s time for you to take a break. I need you here to help plan our next move, now that we have everything we need. You can spend every night with Nancy”.
“Good”, I told him. “I’d like that. But I already have a plan and I’ve got to see the Bishop tomorrow and some fishermen, on a very important mission. Leave me a Jeep. I’ll fill you in tomorrow evening when I return”.
The way I talked to him lately it seemed like I was in charge. He nodded ‘yes’ to me again.
“You never rest, do you. I thought we’d be sitting here weeks making preparations for a military excursion and you tell me you’re leaving tomorrow morning, not even where”.
So I told him: “There might be a way to end all this divisiveness without a war and save many more lives. I need to give it a try. If it fails, we’ll do things your way. I need some fishermen to travel far south, beyond the Delaware and tell the people what’s up and also give them thousands of pills to make allies. I also need you to send a bus to the city of Lebanon tomorrow with a few soldiers to round up the people there and bring them here. They pose no threat and need help. I talked to one today. They’re dying for your help. All the marked houses are full of supplies, cigarettes, booze and canned foods. I learned that today. nobody's gone in them for years. In fact, send busses everywhere west of here on the same mission. I’m just saying this in case I don’t come back. You don’t have enemies out there, just a horde of scarecrow people begging for your help. You’ll increase your ranks and all of them will do anything you ask.
He agreed. Everything I did so far was working out beyond all expectations and he knew it.
“You move so fast you make me dizzy”, was all he could say.
“Then the sooner it will all be over”, I replied.
I went straight to see Nancy and the scientists.
She was delighted to see me back. “Look at this cast they gave me today. It’s heavy but I can move around on the bed, with this swivel harness. Sleep with me tonight. We’ll pull our bed’s together and cuddle, just like before”.
“Sure darling, I’d love nothing better and I’ll tell you all about the farm and other new developments. We’ll have dinner on trays tonight. But I need to have a few words with the scientists right now. Then I’ll order it and the rest of the evening is ours”.
I wanted to see Sheila and the older scientist. They were sitting in the lounge area leafing through stacks of books, at separate tables, about six feet apart, each drinking coffee, when they could easily have shared the same table.
As I looked at them, I thought she might have a mild case of agoraphobia, or some deranged fear of other people. I’d wanted to know her past, her childhood, for clues. For now, I just pulled up a chair between them.
“Do you think, with the right books and some people from town or maybe even the soldiers with some previous experience in welding and pipe fitting and electrical work, that we could get a refinery up and running again. The closest is near Montreal, a hundred miles from my place”?
“I don’t know”? Sheila responded. “I’d have to go back to the library and collect all the right books. But it would take a group of qualified people just to start up a section. I wonder if a plant can be scaled down? I’ll have to research that”.
“We could start with a skeleton crew and minimum output” I said. “It’s fuel that’s going to get this country running again. I’m going South tomorrow and make a deal with what’s left of New York. We’ll find a few people there with skills, then North and all along the way there will be more. There might be even some survivors in Canada who worked there. How many pills do you have? You're coming with me”.
She stood up, taking off her glasses and staring at me with that look of dismay. "Another mission. Isn’t this dangerous. You might be moving too fast”.
“Not from everything I’ve seen lately. Everyone out there is dying. There’s no resistance. You’ve all been cozy and comatose for a year and you know it. So have I. We’re going to settle matters with the Church tomorrow and get things moving. How many pills”?
The elder doctor replied: “Six thousand after what you took. We can ramp it up to a thousand a day if we work around the clock”.
“Do it. I’ll see you, Sheila, after breakfast. Bring half. Wear all white. We have to see the bishop then we’ll be heading down the coast”.
I didn’t know if she’d take direct commands from me, but she did. Even with people of talent, if you’re precise and exactly to the point, they respect that, as most of all talk is pure chatter”.
As I left, she sat down again, no doubt to ponder things. There had been no discussion ever as to their status here. Being well fed and comfortably housed they did all the military told them to do, usually the General himself or one of his lieutenants giving the order.
So they quietly obeyed, not wanting to disturb the balance, knowing they were prisoners in a way. I knew I was shaking things up, but with such determination and fierceness in my tone and manners everyone seemed to obey and rush off to do whatever I said, from the general down, as if I was the ‘Prophet’ again and knew precisely what to do and exactly when. Little did they know what chances I was taking, and nothing of the many doubts in my head. I was the consummate bluffer at a high stakes poker game, and I had to play this one hand out to the end, with the survival of the human race the pot.
Nancy and I had our intimate meal and chat, curtains closed. I sat on her bedside at first, and we shared a bottle of wine. I knew what would make her happy, the tale of the farmer’s girl and how Miranda took to her immediately, running out together to see the horses and sleeping side by side.
Then I told her of the farmer’s competence. He’d run a farm at least as large as ours and checked out everything in the barn before I even woke up, praising Nancy for the supply of grain stored away. I finally told her of Myra and Tom using Jane’s bedroom and the stranger story of Jim and Jane sitting out on the porch close by the metal fire bowl, drinking wine and talking, so late I fell asleep before they came in, on my study chair, not the most comfortable bed for the night.
She squeezed my hand in delight, saying how nice it was I didn’t disturb them, saying love would take its course, hoping they would be a couple someday, a miracle of a chance meeting, just like ours. I pulled our beds close and we fell asleep, holding hands, just like the first night we arrived.
Jim and Jane on the porch. Isostock
