Post Grid: An Arizona EMP Adventure (28 page)

“You're out of bullets, or haven't you been counting? Don't move or you're a dead man!” Kelly shouted with a little more fear in her voice than she would have liked. She sighted her weapon.

“Put the gun down in front of you!” With no option left, the man complied. “All of you come out of the bushes with your hands up!” The first figure, a man, stepped forward, followed by a second figure, a woman.  

“I've got two!” Kelly yelled over her shoulder without taking her eyes off the pair. She spoke to the couple. “Who else is with you?” No response. “Damn it, speak up!”

“Nobody's with us,” quavered the woman's voice.

She heard Jared belting out commands one after the other.  ”Jose, go to Kelly. We'll cover you.” Kelly heard Jose's footfalls approaching quickly from the direction of Rich's house. “The other men go cover our front flanks. Rich and Dennis moved quietly to positions on the right and left of the front yard. “Jess, stand by for lights when I call for them. Kelly, I'm sending someone else over to help you.” Jared looked at Lynn and motioned with his head for her to go to Kelly. Lynn looked at the ground and didn't move. Jared turned to her again and gave her a “psst.” When she looked up, he shot her a cold stare. Lynn moved quickly toward Jose and Kelly.

“Lynn, shoot this guy if he does anything funny,” Kelly commanded. “Lights, now!” she shouted.

Jess illuminated the front yard. Everyone but Kelly and Lynn scoured the yard for more unfriendlies.

“Man only,” Kelly said, “walk slowly toward my voice and then lie face down, now!”

Lynn pointed her weapon at the man while Jose trained his weapon on the woman. Only then did Kelly leave the protection of the stone enclosure and make her way the three steps to her first prisoner. She searched the man for weapons. She removed a pair of handcuffs from Jared's armored vest and fumbled putting them on. Handcuffs weren't part of her skill set. The process was repeated with the woman. Jose retrieved the revolver and then checked the bushes for more accomplices and weapons.

Lynn escorted the detainees, shotgun at the ready, to the porch for safekeeping.  

“Those are the ones that were here today,” Emma said to Jared.

“Shhh, don't speak 'til I'm done,” Jared hissed.

Emma furrowed her brow but complied.

Jared separated the two prisoners. He was very angry, so angry that he felt as if he were shaking visibly. As a street cop, he had learned the need to control his emotions. A good cop does not yell because he is angry, but as a tool to accomplish a goal. He drew a deep, slow breath and held it for a moment, concentrating on relaxing. It was what the birth coaches called a “cleansing breath.” He chuckled to himself, realizing that Kelly's job and his had
one
similarity.  

“Kelly, Rich, take the woman to the back stoop. Don't take her in the house, don't talk to her. I'll be around in a few minutes.”

Rich and Kelly walked the shaken woman to the back.

Jared interrogated the man. “What's your name?”

“I'm Tim and my wife's name is Mary. We weren't doing anything.”

“You were doing something,” Jared said. “Just tell me the whole story.”

“We were out looking for food—ah, rabbit hunting,” Tim said uncertainly. “Um, I didn't know you, ah, that there were houses here. We didn't mean anyone any harm.”

“It doesn't look like you got any rabbits. Did you see any?” Jared said.

“Well, no. We haven't seen any.”

“It's not too likely, wandering around in the dark without a flashlight. Why don't you just stay right here. I'll be back.” He left Emma with her shotgun trained on Tim.

Jared made his way to the back of the house, where he found Kelly and Rich guarding the second prisoner.  

“Now, ma'am, would you tell me your name and why you are here?” Jared said as they stood in the dark on the back stoop.

“I'm Mary. We came up to the house earlier today. It looked like there was just an old lady here. We thought we could get some vegetables or chickens or something out of the yard. We weren't going to hurt her.”

“Tim was pretty fast on the trigger tonight,” Jared said.

“I suppose. He was pretty scared. We are getting pretty hungry. The weeds and jojoba beans down by the stream don't hold off hunger very long. Look at my clothes, they are already hanging off of me and it's only been nine days, a little over a week.”

Jared left Rich and Kelly with the woman, and moved back to the front of the house to address his other prisoner. “Tim, we have had just about enough of you and your wife. I think it's time for the two of you to be moving along.”

“Sure, sure we'll leave, just let my wife go,” Tim pleaded.

“Not so fast. No one is going anywhere tonight. You've already shown yourselves to be untrustworthy and downright dangerous. We'll wait 'til the morning and then let you know what we have decided.”

“Please, please don't hurt us,” Tim said.

“No one here plans to hurt anyone. I'll have them bring Mary back around front. You two can stay together tonight.”

Kelly brought Mary to the front porch. Both prisoners were re-handcuffed in the front and bound by ropes about their waists, ankles and wrists, and tied to the porch swing.  Emma couldn't bear the thought of the two being cold or more uncomfortable than they had to be, so she brought out pillows and blankets.  Both were given water, which they drank greedily. Nothing was said in the prisoner's presence.

Jared called to Jess to come down from Rich's house. The teens were instructed to watch the prisoners while the rest of the clan held a family meeting.

“Shouldn't we give them a good dinner?” Emma asked Jared.

“No, I'm afraid that would just prove that we have food to share, and they would be a threat in the future,” said Jared.

“Not anything?” asked Kelly. “I don't think I could do that to a stray dog.”

“Kel, you and I were just talking about how all of us are losing weight, how the food we have now has to last through the winter. Every bite we give them may mean a bite Lynn doesn't have, or Jess.”

Kelly hung her head. Emma leaned closer to her and gave her a hug. “I know, it's just so hard to wrap your head around. I've struggled with it
every
time we have seen someone without.”

“That's natural,” said Emma, “but it's survival now. We all have to change our way of thinking; them or us. I hate it too. I won't sleep all night thinking of them out there, cold and hungry.”

“Remember, they were willing to kill us tonight,” reminded Jared.

Kelly shook her head in acknowledgment.

“We're not going to hurt them,” Dennis said as a statement, not a question.

“No, of course not,” said Jared. “I can't condone first-degree murder.”

There was a collective sigh, even from Jared.

It took almost a half hour's discussion around the kitchen table to come up with the plan.

****

The next morning found the away team—Dennis, Lynn, Jose, Jess, Kelly and Rich—riding on the donkey cart and horses, heading north from the ranch along the old road. Tim and Mary, still bound, sat sullenly on the cart with their scant possessions, which had been gathered from their camp by the creek. Everything they had with them fit in a daypack, except a single light sleeping bag. They had a few matches, a few articles of clothing, a can opener, a small fry pan, two forks, a pocket knife and a cell phone.

The group came to the junction with the Beeline Highway, well north of Sunflower, and continued toward Payson. When it was deemed they had gone far enough, Tim and Mary were set down, their restraints removed, and their gear thrown at their feet.  

“Payson is that way,” Rich pointed. “If we see you in our neighborhood again, you will be shot.”

The couple walked silently northward until they were out of sight, carrying their bags and the sandwiches Emma had made them for lunch.

“Oh, my God,” Kelly sighed heavily. “How could our world come to this? Did you see what they brought with them? How did they think they were going to survive?”

“They didn't,” said Jose. “We all have had survival training, some in the military and some from camping or search and rescue. Remember, there are many in our population that have never struck a match. We don't have pilot lights any more, their barbecue grills have a push button start, and there are butane lighters for their scented candles.”

“Yeah,” said Dennis. “I'm willing to bet that the majority of Americans have never stayed overnight in less than an RV.”

“Very few are going to make it,” said Rich.

“We will,” Kelly said in a voice not much more than a whisper.

“Yes, we will,” said Jose sternly.

The clan scrounged with renewed vigor. Today, they used the northern route to the house from the Beeline instead of using the southern route through Sunflower, saving them several miles. In addition to the trailers brought home, the great find of the day was an overlooked tanker truck carrying corn syrup. It was actually high-fructose corn syrup used for making soda pop. When Emma heard about it, while the group was dropping off a load at the ranch, she insisted that they fill several large, scavenged water containers and a fifty-gallon drum with the liquid sugar.

During the late morning, the team heard motors; vehicles coming toward them from the South. As they got closer, everyone could see it was a convoy made up of old trucks—pickups, surplus military trucks, stake beds and jeeps, many towing trailers. The sound was so foreign as to be unnerving.

Dennis wanted to talk with them, but the drivers' and their passengers' determined, wary expressions convinced him not to bother flagging them down.

“I bet they're moving supplies for the Mormons,” opined Rich. “There has been a lot of activity on the LDS radio net in the last twenty-four hours. I think we should leave them alone. That is all we can ask of them in return.”

****

After the cart made its final trip home late that afternoon, Dennis and Rich decided to make a trip into Sunflower to tell the residents about the encounter with Tim and Mary. Riding into the settlement, they saw folks unloading their wagons of salvaged goods. Rich and Dennis pitched in while telling their tale. As the unloading wrapped up, they heard teams of horse-drawn wagons approaching on the highway.

Bill, Rich and Dennis walked to the highway to watch the parade. Descending the access road into Sunflower came every manner of beast and wagon. Horses, mules, hennies, burros, and ponies pulled old buckboards, modern wagons on rubber tires, donkey carts, pony carts, replica covered wagons, and even a ranch chuck wagon. Dennis noticed rifles and shotguns within reach of the alert drivers and riders, some of whom also wore sidearms, but no one seemed threatening.

The first team pulled off to the side of the road to speak to the Sunflower contingent while the other wagons continued on the opposite side of the road, down toward the stream.

“Howdy,” Rich called.

“Hi there!” exclaimed the driver. “I'm Warren Jones, the captain of this Mormon wagon company. Who might you be?”

“I'm Rich Freeman, and this is Jose Herrero and Dennis Rabbinowitz.” Rich approached the wagon and Warren leaned way down from the driver's seat, offering Rich his hand.

“We are residents of Sunflower. You're welcome to camp down here by the stream, but we ask that you stay south of the bridge and keep your livestock out of the stream. We're afraid that too many hooves will foul the water,” offered Rich.

“Very reasonable of you,” Warren returned. “We are sorry that we have to inconvenience you like this, but we don't have any choice. We will be as clean as we can. We were planning on damming the stream to make a few small pools. Our families and livestock will be doled water from them and we'll tell everyone else not to go down there.”

“We appreciate your sensitivity in this current predicament we all find ourselves in,” said Rich.  ”How many of you are there and where are you headed?”

“In total, there are several thousand people that will be passing by here over the next week or so. We're heading north and will be spreading out to Snowflake, Springerville, Taylor, Show Low and the like. We can make arrangements for land and water there. My wagons will be here tonight and you should start seeing handcart companies around midday tomorrow.”

“Handcart companies?” Rich repeated.

“Yes, sir. Without even knowing it, we have been practicing this great migration by encouraging our youth to reenact the Mormon pioneers crossing the Great Plains into the Salt Lake Valley in the 1800s. Each stake does a handcart trek once every four years for our youth ages fourteen to eighteen. Their trek, like this one, teaches them what our ancestors did for their religious freedom and what they felt was their survival. This migration is not dissimilar to the very journey our ancestors undertook more than one hundred years ago.”

“I am very familiar with handcart treks,” said Rich. “I went on one as an adult advisor.”

“So are you Brother Freeman?” asked Warren with a chuckle.

“I haven't been active with the church in years,” replied Rich. “I'm a ham radio operator though, and I've been listening to your ham net. Does each company have a radio?”