Chapter 182
It wasn’t like I was completely detached from the time that I’d been stolen away or by what was going on in town and out in the world nationally and internationally. I even kept my ear to the ground. Winn had a radio set up that he’d scavenged from one of the cabins. It was only set up to receive but that’s all we needed it to do. We couldn’t run it a lot and we didn’t want to get caught by someone trying to triangulate signals. But November and into December was a time of healing for me. Winn and I got back on an even keel. Teena … and Rutherford … finally and completely recognized me as “mom” and not just that person that came back so changed. I got my confidence back that I could fit back into my previous life. There were nights that I dreamed but Winn sensed it and would draw me close and … it was the best medicine for me.
None of that meant, however, that we didn’t have to occasionally deal with the realities of the war and the gangs that were still around. We also needed to deal with our own homegrown idiots. The story of the “gold mine” beneath the town grew legs. Winn and I struggled about using the coins to get supplies for the town, but the truth is that it was just too dangerous.
Another problem was homeless people coming up the mountain and trying to build a camp in the various abandoned cabins. Then they started to scavenge from other cabins, not all of them abandoned ones. It took the intervention of the national guard that time. It didn’t make me comfortable but at the same time I didn’t really see an alternative solution that worked for everyone. This wasn’t a real end of the world as we knew it situation. Those properties weren’t abandoned in a Mad Max sense. They were still owned by people, even if that meant they’d been returned to a bank via foreclosure. The homeless people that moved in didn’t have any kind of right to them, nor were many places even livable as they were without power (we all were up there), water, and/or septic. Perhaps it would have been overlooked if they hadn’t been scavenging and looting and stealing. Perhaps it would have been managed if they’d treated the places like homes rather than flop houses.
We found out the national guard had gotten involved on one particular day. I was at the house processing more acorns
[1]. Winn and I still had whole grain wheat and others in the cellar and they were sealed to last really long term. That said, they wouldn’t last long, or we would have to ration more if I didn’t take the time to process, then use the acorn meats, flour
[2], and meal
[3]. It meant work, and no small amount of it, but I had always preferred spending sweat equity than pennies out of pocket. I was trying to figure out how to make pasta
[4] from the acorn flour and I was pretty sure that I would be ready by the following week to give it a try and then knock Winn out of his boots. It was right before Christmas and I was also trying to figure out a way to candy some acorns, I had a note that you did it similar to candying pecans so though I worried about wasting assets I wouldn’t be making that big of a batch anyway.
All of that was running through my head as I worked. Winn had gone off to see if the squatters had done any more damage or if they had spread out towards our area. He’d already lost a couple of the fallback positions he’d set up but thankfully he hadn’t supplied them yet so no loss there. The kids were inside, down for their naps, when I saw Winn walk into the yard, much earlier than I expected. And worse, he had company.
She said, “Please don’t pick up that rifle. The men coming behind me wouldn’t appreciate it.”
Captain Dunn slammed into place with a vengeance and while I might not have picked up the rifle, I was thinking how fast could I reach the Glock in my pocket.
“It’s okay Edie,” Winn said. “They come in peace.”
“Said the aliens in Mars Attacks right before they blew up Congress,” I repeated our signal phrase.
Winn’s response of, “Well these aren’t that bad.” Let me know that the danger was only moderate rather than an immediate emergency. When he said, “I’ll go check on the kids” it made me wonder what was up.
I gave The Woman a cold look. She said, “Relax. He knows the sitch but I wanted to speak to you privately.”
“How private is it going to be if you have men coming in behind you?”
“They’ll stay out until I say otherwise.”
“Fine. What is it you want or need?”
She gave a twist to her lips. “You vouch for Dakota Dunn and Nels Gibson?”
“Further than I can throw them.”
She snorted in humor but then got serious. “So they won’t take advantage of … deals and offerings.”
“Nels is a Lawyer and Dakota isn’t stupid. Of course they’ll take advantage of what is offered in a deal. But if you are asking are they trustworthy and keep to their word? Yes. They will. They may irritate you in the process but that’s just them being men. However, I’ll be pissy beyond belief if you are using me to get to them or the people in the town for … less than honest reasons.”
“It’s not like that. We want to put an outpost at the bridges. It will cause some restrictions in movement of the civilians but we can also offer some assistance in rebuilding.”
I shrugged. “Talk to the Chief of Police. He’ll put you in contact with the right people to smooth it along … because you may be ‘offering’ but the decision has already been made. Am I correct?”
She nodded. Then she asked a strange question, “Do any of the homeless camps up here have kids in them?”
“How the heck should I know? Winn might.” She gave me an arched eyebrow that reminded me of Aunt Nita. “I haven’t seen any, that doesn’t mean there aren’t any.”
“You tell me you haven’t taken a recee?”
I was silent and then walked off the porch and closer to where she was standing. “For as much as I am able I’m back to being just plain ol’ Edie Holtzinger Dunn. However, say one of the camps nearly got my husband caught in a stupid dangerous punji trap that had no business being where it was and say I decided they needed to … move on.”
“So you’re the one that left them for the patrol to find.”
I gave a non-committal shrug. “Crap happens. I don’t want it happening to my family anymore than necessary. My turn. Why the twenty questions?”
“Because with the outposts we are going to be … clearing out … some of the less savory elements. And just to let you know, Congress has approved a law that states looters and rioters are to be shot … not can be but will … and squatters are to be reported and then sent to hard labor until they pay for any damage they’ve done.”
I kept my face straight. I had known that was the policy but that they put it into law was a bit of a surprise.
“Nothing to say?”
“None of my business. I don’t wear a shiny star or anything else. Talk to whoever they appointed to be the Sheriff.”
“Some guy named Dunn,” she said with her own face straight.
“That’s to be expected, at least around here.”
“Do tell.”
“Just did. Get in good with the Chief.”
“How the hell do I do that? This is Georgia and you can see my ‘tan.’”
I rolled my eyes. “The kluckers are reasonable around here. They don’t like the illegals but otherwise if you show you are on their side, and you aren’t trying to force them to be anything other than they are, they mostly keep to themselves.” When she gave a cynical chuckle I added, “Mostly they were of the elder generation and … not many survived the infrastructure failures.” She sobered and nodded. “And if you are serious about getting in good with the Chief. Do something for JJ.”
“The migrant kid?”
“He was born in the States so he isn’t a migrant though people kept trying to put him in that category. And the migrants and illegals treated him bad because he is intellectually challenged.”
“Like a chicken being pecked to death,” is what your husband said.
“Pretty much. But when it comes to carpentry he’s aces. Almost a savant.” She nodded. “And he’s fast. Offer him some small jobs, jobs where he can take what he earns back to the Chief and his wife … that might do it. Or offer a little help rehabbing the town library or the school. Ask the Chief’s wife and his sister for advice or put them in charge of the town committee on it. The Chief is an honest man. You can’t bribe him … but you can let him see that you aren’t out to do the town or anyone in it any harm.”
“I’ll see what can be done.”
“Just keep my name out of it.”
“Still?”
“Yes. I don’t need nor want the notoriety.”
That’s when she said, “Speaking of …”
[1] https://www.youtube.com/@FeralForaging/videos
[2] Eating Acorns: 60+ Acorn Recipes from Around the World
[3] How to Eat Acorns: The Absolute Easiest Way - The Grow Network
[4] View: https://youtu.be/xldE2UX5vjc?si=9Ncj7g1PeAPxi_ez
Snow coming in tomorrow night and all next week.