America's Sunset: A Post Apocalyptic Fight for Survival (6 page)

Chapter 10 ~ The Old Homestead

It was actually a milder day in Big Springs than the forecast had called for. The middle of summer being what it was, any day that was under a hundred degrees, Maggie considered gardening weather. A ninety-three-degree day certainly fit into that category. The vegetable garden was doing better than she had hoped, due to the cooler summer and a couple of big rain storms. Sometimes, she figured, Mother Nature really understood her. Well, why wouldn’t she? They were both gardeners, and they both understood what it was like to raise challenging children. Maggie smiled to herself at the thought of challenging children. Were there any that didn’t fit that description? Not that Maggie ever for a day begrudged being a mother. Well, maybe there was that one day, back when the kids were first stretching their teenage muscles. That was an exception for sure. A garden back then would have been a welcome respite, if she could have spared the time. 

“You know,” Jake mentioned as he walked by carrying another box to the cottage, “that garden could be even more amazing if you let me build a rainwater collection system as part of the cottage.”

Maggie didn’t even look up, she just went on digging. “Why thank you for noticing, it really is an amazing garden this year now, isn’t it?” She wasn’t taking the bait about spending more money on the cottage.

“It could be like this every year, not just the odd summer when we get the occasional Texas monsoon.” Jake set down the box he was carrying. “It wouldn’t take much money. Not really. And, if you thought about it for a bit, I bet we’d save money on our water bill.” Maggie kept on digging. “I was reading somewhere that Texas has some of the highest water bills in the entire US. I mean, with all the watering restrictions, wouldn’t it be nice if we just had our own supply of water?”

“Have you seen the size of the weeds this year?” Maggie said, tossing some big green leaves into a plastic bucket. “These things seem to do even better than my tomatoes, and look at the size of those tomatoes, will you. They’re like small grapefruits.”

“C’mon, Maggie, you know it makes sense. Even if it’s just for the gardening. We wouldn’t even have to do any fancy filtering, at least not right away.”

Maggie turned to look at Jake. “Jake Banner, I’ve lived with you plenty long enough to know exactly how your mind works. There’s no way you’re going to leave a project half finished.” Jake looked down at his feet to hide the smile on his face. “I can pretty much predict the next conversation we’d be having. You’ll be half-way through working on this water collection gizmo, then you’ll come up with some brilliant idea about how it could be so much better. How it could save us money. How it could make our lives better. How we’d be so much healthier. How, how … how it could pave a path of gold from here to Oz and eventually lead us to the fountain of youth.”

Jake looked up. “Now, c’mon, you know I don’t go for any of the fancy stuff you read in those crazy books of yours. I’m very pragmatic.” Jake crossed his arms. “My finished projects always deliver on their promise. You’ve got to admit to that now, right?”

“Sure, they do. But, the keyword to keep in mind there is finished. You don’t always finish everything.” Maggie stood, and stared down the road to the front of the property.

Jake’s eyes followed her stare. “Now, don’t get started on that again, Mags.” Jake pointed to the original farm house at the front of their property. “That place is pretty close to being done. Everything is insulated and running … mostly.”

“That place has been ninety-five percent finished for the last year. You said you were going to get it finished months ago.” Jake didn’t say a word. He’d run out of excuses for this argument a long while ago. “I’ll make you a deal. You get that place habitable, and we line up some renters for it, then you can use that money for whatever cottage projects you want for the next year. I won’t spend a dime of it.”

Jake chewed on his bottom lip as he paced back and forth, thinking of what was left to finish on the old property. Eventually, the pacing transitioned to nodding his head. “You’ve got a deal. I’ll get right on it. Just as soon as I finish moving these boxes, and one little thing inside the cottage.”

Maggie had already returned to her battle with the big, green, leafy non-tomato weeds. “Whatever you say hon,” she answered.

Chapter 11 ~ New Tenant

That old farmhouse looked great, Maggie thought to herself, walking through it. There was no doubt that once Jake set his mind to getting something done, he did it in style. It wasn’t a big farmhouse, unlike most of the ones from the mid-1800s, but it was about as cheery as could be. There were three small bedrooms upstairs. Originally the house only had two, but Maggie had insisted on three. Renting a two-bedroom house these days would be too difficult, as most families had two kids who wanted their own rooms. And, it was families they were looking for. Jake broke up the big master into two small ones, and with some creative drywalling, he managed to fashion some modest closet space. They figured people with enough clothes to fill a walk-in closet weren’t the type to go looking for a place in the country.

The kitchen was Maggie’s favorite room of all. It had the typical big butcher block table that occupied the center of the room. They updated most of the functional cupboards by painting them to a modern white sheen, but still kept the original hardwood floors and the barn wood on the east wall with the big window. Something old and something new. The gas appliances were all new, and even the fridge was propane powered. Jake had insisted. It cost more, but Maggie agreed that they seemed to have more power outages in the country than most folks so it made good sense. “Besides,” Jake had said, “it’d be a good selling feature.” Maggie wondered who Jake was ‘selling’ to … the potential new renters, or herself.

Maggie walked out onto the front porch (her second favorite room in the house) as she heard the early model truck come up the gravel drive.
Here’s hoping these folks work out better than the last two I saw this morning
, Maggie thought. She waved to the good-looking young man in the cowboy hat as he got out of the car. His young son and daughter followed him up the path. Maggie waited to see if the mother got out of the car, but apparently she wasn’t with them.
Well
, thought Maggie to herself.
Here’s to hoping you’re a man with a regular paycheck. That would put you miles above anyone else I’ve talked with today.

Maggie met them halfway down the front path, and shook the man’s hand as he took off his hat.

“Hello, my name is Dawson. You must be Maggie?”

Maggie smiled pleasantly. “Yes, I am Maggie, it’s nice to meet you. And who might this strong fella and beautiful young lady be?” she said, as she looked at the two children.

“Well, this young girl attached to my hip is Veronica, and the reluctant young man behind me is Chase.”

“Well, it’s nice to meet you, Veronica and Chase.”

Veronica timidly shook Maggie’s outstretched hand, and Chase begrudgingly did the same under Dawson’s watchful eye.

“So, you folks are looking to move out to the country, are you? We don’t get many young people like yourselves moving out of the city these days.”

“Yes, ma’am,” Dawson replied. “I actually grew up on a horse farm back home, but have been away from it for quite a while. The kids here have been city folks most of their lives, but I figured this would be an opportunity to show them my roots.”

“Well, that’s nice to hear for a change.” Maggie clasped her hands together. ”Will there be anyone else joining us today, or is it just you three?”

“Yes, just the three of us. My wife and I separated some time ago.”

Veronica stared at her feet, while Chase seemed to be eyeballing every detail of the house looking for flaws.

“Oh, I’m sorry to hear that,” Maggie said. “That’s fine though, this place would be perfect for the three of you. There’s one bedroom for everyone. And don’t you worry, young Chase, I think you’ll fit in just great out here in the country.”

“Yes, ma’am, if you say so,” Chase said, sounding quite skeptical.

“Well, c’mon up, everyone.” Maggie waved them forward as she started up the porch stairs. “Let’s start the grand tour.” She held the door for everyone as they proceeded in, Chase last of all. Maggie leaned down and whispered—loud enough for everyone to hear—to Chase as he passed by, “We even have Internet out here in the boonies.”

Dawson and Chase both smiled, albeit for different reasons.

* * *

“This is not going to be an easy thing to do,” Maggie said, as she plunked herself down at the breakfast table. “That’s the third family I’ve talked with today, and I’m still not sure which one to choose.”

“You want me to choose for you?” Jake said, as he handed her the cup of steaming hot coffee. “Tell me about the people you’ve been talking to.”

“No offense, hon, but you’re not exactly the best judge of people. Remember what happened when you went to greet the new neighbors at the old Hilson farm? I ended up having to send over half a day’s worth of baking to make peace with them.”

“I remember,” Jake said, leaning back against the counter with his arms crossed. “And it wasn’t so much that I’m a poor judge of character … I never judged them. They just didn’t know how to appreciate my opinion. Given that they didn’t last long, I don’t think I was the only guy they had differences with.”

“Actually, I think you were the only person that talked with them.”

“Well, that should tell you something right there about them. And, if that’s the case, then it looks like I did the county a favor. If the rest of his family was anything like him, then it’s just as well they moved out.” Maggie gave him her best ‘tsk tsk’ look without actually saying anything. Jake ignored it. “So, tell me about these potential tenants that you’ve been interviewing.”

“Well,” Maggie said, opening the folder on the table. “Of the dozen or so I’ve talked to in the last two weeks, there’s really only three that I’d consider.”

“Only three? Someone's pretty choosy.”

“Given that the whole reason we’re trying to rent this place is to bump up our retirement funds, I’d say the fact that only three of the potential families have a stable income is pretty important. I know times are hard lately around here, but I was really shocked to find out how hard. Three of the families had some possible job prospects, but half the people I talked with had been out of work for more than a year. I don’t know how they thought they could afford the rent.”

“That is pretty rough. It’s one thing to help out folks over the short term, but they have to at least be able to stand on their own two feet. If you can’t find work here in over a year, then maybe it’s time to move on.”

“Exactly.” Maggie paused a bit. “Of the three that had a stable income, there were two that I really liked. One was a young man with two small children from the Midwest. He just got a job working as a farm hand at Bert Williams’ place, which is a good reference in and of itself. If Bert is giving the guy a job, then he must have something going for him.”

“I didn’t know Bert was looking for help. Although I’m sure if he was, he would’ve been swamped with applicants. I’m a little surprised he’d pick a guy from out of town over someone local. Must be a reason.”

Maggie nodded in agreement. “We didn’t really talk too much about the job, or how he got it, but I get the feeling that he’s got a thing for animals. He’s really good with horses or something.”

“Why’s that?”

“Oh, just a few things he said about growing up on a farm with horses, and knowing how to break them in.”

“Hang on a minute.” Jake sat down across from Maggie. “This guy is not a cowboy, is he?” Maggie didn’t respond. “Okay, I see where this is going.” Jake didn’t even try to hide the grin. “Now, don’t let all those cowboy romance novels you read get the better of you here. This is strictly a financial decision. We’re looking for good tenants that we know can pay the rent and be responsible.” Maggie fiddled a bit with the papers in the folder. “Is he a good-looking cowboy at least?”

“Now you stop right there, Jake Banner. Don’t you be insinuating that this old retired girl’s got some schoolgirl crush. You won’t be making me blush at my own kitchen table.” Maggie finished shuffling the papers in the folder and closed it.

“No, dear, I wouldn’t dream of it. Although, I’m pretty sure now I know which of our prospective candidates you’re going to pick. I just hope he’s as good with the rent as he is at breaking horses.” Jake’s grin went full Cheshire-cat. It wasn’t often that he got the better of Maggie, and he couldn’t remember the last time he saw her blush. “But you’re wrong on one point. You’re not just some old retired girl, you’re
my beautiful
old retired girl.” With that, Jake got up and gave her a kiss before heading up the stairs.

Chapter 12 ~ The Prepping Bug

Jake knew he was living every prepper’s dream. He wasn’t rich, but he was comfortable and careful enough with his money that he had enough to get by, and enough to plan for the future. He’d always wanted to be an engineer, but his parents didn’t have the money when he was younger, so he ended up working his way up the hard way. He figured if he was smart enough, and if he worked hard enough, maybe he’d be able to work himself up through the ranks to an engineering position from within the industry. It all seemed so idealistic now when he thought about it, but to a young, ambitious eighteen-year-old kid it made perfect sense.

He did pretty well in spite of a limited formal education. Jake understood that just because he couldn’t go to school, it didn’t mean he couldn’t learn. He spend a lot of time at the library, researching and reading about everything he could get his hands on related to engineering. Chemistry, calculus, mechanics, physics, algebra, and electronics all fascinated him. The longer he studied while working the construction jobs, the more he realized he liked learning more than the thought of going to school. He figured that at least this way he could indulge his passion, and still make money. Plus, he got to see real life engineering in practice on the job. It was the best of both worlds.

Over the course of his working years, he spent time with just about every construction company in the state of Texas. Or at least, it felt like he had. He liked the variety of different kinds of work, and employers were always happy to have a guy that was both good with his hands and his brains. Eventually, after twenty-seven years in the field, Jake changed careers. Construction work was a young man’s game, he figured. Not that he couldn’t hold his own with the young bucks coming into the industry, he just had other ambitions. The University of Houston was looking for a Research Librarian in their engineering department. Jake applied on a lark, and based on his hands on experience and self taught education, a very down to earth recruiter gave him the position. He worked there while the kids were students on campus, splitting his time between Big Springs, and Houston. He and Maggie missed each other, but both agreed it was nice having one of them close to the kids. Maggie managed to keep the homestead running, while visiting Houston as often as she could. When his youngest graduated, Jake retired.

There was an endless list of projects to work on at home … a list that grew as fast as he completed it. He figured the fun of having a projects list wasn’t in checking things off it, it was in adding new interesting ideas. Even in his retirement years, he never grew tired of thinking up new projects.

There was one item on his list that took the majority of his time these days, and seemed to spawn numerous other items for the list. That was of course his passion for the prepper lifestyle. Prepping gave him a purpose, and a sense of control over all the crazy stuff that went on in the world. Jake realized that once he got to a certain age, he hated relying on others. Others, of course, included the government and its myriad number of federal, state, and civic services. He liked to think he was the king of his own little country … even if that country was surrounded by the state of Texas and all the other surrounding states that made up the good ole USA.

His island was one incredible achievement of self-sufficiency and sustainability. He had stockpiles of food and water; enough to keep his family going for at least a year. He had energy plans that included solar, wind, multiple gas generators and wood burning rocket stoves. He supplemented his food and water stores with gardens, a fully stocked pond, and a rather elaborate rainwater collection system that he had proudly designed himself. The solar and wind system fed an extensive battery bank that he had customized based on an amalgamation of different systems he’d researched on the Internet. He had collected a fine library of books covering topics like homesteading, first aid, tactical defense, natural remedies, and wilderness survival. He had all the essential ones in digital as well as paper form. Those he couldn’t find in digital form, he converted himself.             

Jake was always quite amazed at what you could build if you did a little at a time. It had been quite a few years since he’d first heard about that near miss CME in 2012. He found it disturbing how fragile our civilization was. How one event on a given day had the potential to devastate an entire civilization. Being the voracious reader that he was, it didn’t take him too long to realize the true extent of the problem, and how few people were aware of it.

Western civilization in the 21st century wouldn’t be the first to collapse. Rome may have been the most notable, but certainly wouldn’t be the last. It seemed the more complex and interdependent our world became, the more precarious it became. Like a house of cards, all inescapably dependent on every other card in the house to do its job. All it takes is for one of those cards to fail, and the whole place goes whoosh! Being king of his own island seemed like the way to go. At least that way, he could stack the deck in his favor.

The story Jake read that scared him the most was about forest fires, and how preventing forest fires was actually a bad thing. It seemed like one of those sensational headlines that just wanted to grab your attention while they sold you something else, but there was science to this one. Forest fires are a natural occurrence in nature. They happen all the time. It’s part of Mother Nature’s way of getting rid of the old and bringing in the new. Burning the old and dead trees, returns their nutrients to the soil, which become food for new growth. Without the fire, the nutrients stay trapped in dead trees. Surprisingly a lot of young and healthy trees will survive a small forest fire. It’s a natural part of the cycle of life.

Human intervention interrupts the cycle. We build multi-million-dollar neighborhoods near forests, mountains and babbling brooks. Totally understandable, as it’s a beautiful setting. We also have businesses that depend on a forest either for lumber mills, nature parks, or tourist attractions. No one wants to see those suffer. But, nothing in nature remains static. At some point Mother Nature decides that it’s time to get rid of the old dead wood, and lightning strikes or some small tinder spontaneously combusts. Presto, a little spring cleaning clears out the old. Now there’s room for new growth.

Human intervention saves our homes and businesses, but just prolongs the inevitable. Eventually, Mother Nature gets her way, and the fire starts. The tragedy now is that there is too much dead wood and tinder lying around. Instead of getting a small forest fire like nature intended, we end up with a massive inferno that’s so intense, it wipes out everything including the young and healthy trees. The inferno burns so hot and long, that nothing is left for nature to start anew with. We end up with a wasteland.

Critics of modern culture use this example as a metaphor for our society. We keep putting short-term Band-Aids on our problems. Financially fragile governments, over-population, energy shortages and environmental abuse all get stop-gap fixes, but no one addresses the big problems. The tough questions. At some point, they all become like too much dead wood in the forest. Sometime in the not so distant future, there’s going to be a major problem that we can’t put a Band-Aid on. Then what? Does the whole thing fall apart? Does all that dead wood fuel a massive roaring inferno? Imagine giant dominoes that fall and fall and fall. They only differ from the amusing child’s game in that these are real life dominoes, and every time one falls, people get crushed under its weight. Over and over and over again.

Jake didn’t want to be under those dominoes when they fell. He didn’t want anyone he loved to be under those dominoes when they fell. Hell, he didn’t want the dominoes to fall at all, but he didn’t know how to stop them. What he did know was how to survive the fall. Or, at least he hoped he did. He figured if he could build a place where the collapse couldn’t hurt those he cared about he could sleep at night. They could all sleep, and survive, and be around when it was time for rebuilding. Not everyone would perish in the collapse. Some would survive, either through good luck or good planning. He wanted to be one of them. One of the lucky few to have a chance to do things better the next time. He wanted the opportunity to be alive and with the people he cared about to build a better world. Until those plans were in place, Jake laid awake at night thinking.