Protection and Preservation, Book 02
Chapter 4

Copyright© 2014 by radio_guy

[West Georgia]

Five minutes later, we left. Janice had called in to report that the truck had stopped at the same spot as before. She said there were two people inside. She said that she saw them when the door opened and the light came on. One got out to observe. Janice was whispering which I thought was a good idea. Shirley and I moved quickly to the tree line and the creek. We then started to slowly make our way to Janice. We came up to her having warned her that we were close. Shirley came beside her and gave her a quick squeeze. I went around to avoid the truck that was parked with its motor and lights off. Janice said she thought the driver was still in it. I came around slowly and quietly looking for the observer. Again, the same spot was in use, which was not smart. I came up quietly and placed my pistol against his head and said softly, “Don’t move. I don’t want to shoot you but I will.” The person froze in place. “Now, face down with your arms spread.”

I had neither rope nor handcuffs. I would cure that lack next time. “Shirl, send Janice. Tell her to work her way here by going way around the truck and to be careful.”

Janice said, “I hear you and I’m coming. It will take a few minutes to get there. I’m not as good as you in the woods.”

“No hurry. We’re fine and going nowhere.” I took her over five minutes to work her way to my position during which time my prisoner made no sound. I didn’t either. Janice arrived. I told her to hold her pistol on the prisoner and Shirley and I would go to the truck and capture the other. I whispered that I hoped to do it peacefully.

At that moment, my prisoner whispered, “Let me up and I’ll go with you. We will surrender if you won’t hurt us.” I was surprised. Our prisoner was female!

“Janice, search her for weapons.” Janice went over her body and found nothing. That was a bit surprising, too. “Okay, Miss. We don’t want to hurt anyone so get up slowly and keep your hands raised and away from your body. No sudden moves.”

Our prisoner rose slowly and kept her hands out and then up. We moved out slowly to the truck on the driver’s side. We were about ten feet away and I stopped us. Stepping behind her, I told our prisoner, “I have my pistol on you. You have my promise that we don’t want to hurt anyone unless forced to do so. My wife has a shotgun on the truck so your driver needs to listen to you and not try anything.”

She nodded. She called out, “Sylvia, it’s me. They have us surrounded. Get out of the truck slowly with your hands up. They have promised not to hurt us unless we force their hand. Come out slowly.”

The parking lights lit up but the engine wasn’t cranked. Shirley was visible for a moment and then she moved out of the light but between the truck and the road. The driver raised her hands. Then she moved slowly with her left hand and opened the door. She swung it open and got out of the truck with her hands raised. “Janice, check her for weapons.” Janice came up without getting between either Shirley or myself and our prisoners. She patted down the driver. “Okay, ladies. You must be Sylvia. Who are you?” I said looking at our first prisoner.

“My name is Michelle Dawson. That’s my older sister, Sylvia.”

“Okay, you can put your hands down. Shirl, close the truck up, take the keys, and lock it. Let’s go home. We’ll talk in comfort.”

Shirley did as I asked and we all headed in toward the house. Shirley called on the radio, “Mary, handle the net. We have everything under control and are coming in.”

“Great!” I heard from Mary. We got inside and everyone sat down in the living room.

“Okay, ladies, tell us your story.” Ladies might be pushing it. Michelle was not much older than Janice if she was that old. Sylvia was maybe Shirley’s age but probably younger. Neither looked abused but they had the tired look of people who didn’t know what to do any more.

Sylvia looked up at us. “We are sisters. Our father was killed a few months ago in a traffic accident. Our mom died of the sickness. Both of us were sick but got better. We lived in Marietta. I went to Kennesaw State and Michelle was in high school. No one around us was alive and we decided to come here where my mom’s parents had lived. We did not find them but it looked like they died. We didn’t know what to do and then we saw you folks in Carrollton.

“We had seen some men in Atlanta but they didn’t look like good people.” Looking at me, she said, “You made us nervous though you were surrounded by women and seemed on good terms with them. We wanted to find out what you were like before we met you. We had been living in our grandparents’ house. We think they died early in the sickness when people were buried and weren’t just left where they died. We had to bury our mom.”

Shirley said, “Our story is going to be the short version. Jack and I were students at Tech though we didn’t get together until after the Day. We are married.” She held up her hand with the wedding band on it. “Janice, we met on a scavenger trip to Atlanta and she asked to join us. She’s a good friend. Mary is Jack’s aunt and a widow. They live here with us. The couple that owned it died and we buried them in a little thicket behind the house. We aren’t Jack’s harem. He can only handle me.” She grinned at Sylvia and Michelle and at me. I blushed.

I said, “Janice stayed out in the woods all this afternoon and evening by herself waiting for you. I am very proud of her. Janice, if you’re hungry, there’s food in the kitchen you can heat up. Come back in here to eat so you can listen.” Janice smiled happily and went into the kitchen. A moment later, I heard the microwave running. She and Mary came in together. Janice sat down at the dining table where she could be involved. Mary came in and was introduced.

She said, “I called the net. Everyone checked in. Robert has joined Mitch and they seem to be getting along. Ollie is coming and wants to talk with you, Jack, but will wait until tomorrow night’s net. Charlie is at Jack’s place in Pooler. Jack is going to come, too. He agrees with Charlie that a group will be better off than a loner. I don’t know if Mitch will stay but he is at least coming down with Robert. And that’s tonight’s news, folks, hot off the radio.”

We all chuckled at that. Shirley said, “Nice job and great report, Mary.” She turned to Sylvia and Michelle and said, “What do you want to do now that you have met us?”

Sylvia and Michelle looked at each other, “We don’t know. We hadn’t thought that part through to a conclusion. I guess we would like to be part of a larger community. We’ve been scared a lot lately. These are scary times.”

“So true,” Mary acknowledged.

The sisters stayed in the guest room that night and Mary slept with Janice.

We got up the next morning and Mary went in to get the radios on while the rest of us prepared breakfast. Sylvia and Michelle were typical sisters, teasing each other, while they worked together. They seemed like a couple of nice girls. Janice seemed to blossom even more in relating to Michelle.

Mary came in and said, “Robert and Mitch are starting on their way here now and should be here in two or three hours. Charlie and Jack are going to start out soon. They heard me talking to Robert.” She grinned. “We’re going to have company and see some new faces to go with the voices we have been hearing!”

We sat down to breakfast with everyone talking excitedly. After breakfast, Shirley and I stayed in the kitchen to clean up while Mary and Janice took Sylvia and Michelle to the radio room. They left the doors open so we could hear them. I heard Mary call Ted on the repeater and tell him the news. He had heard on the HF but expressed his excitement to her. As we came into the room, she was introducing Sylvia and Michelle to Ted who was glad to hear some new, female voices. Sylvia had a particularly good voice. I bet it sounded good over a radio as well.

When Mary came on, she invited him over to meet Robert and Mitch at lunchtime and to stay for the arrival of Charlie and Jack. We figured they would arrive around or before supper. I said, “Tell him to come over now. We have a little work to do. If he has a tractor he can trailer over, it would help.” Mary gave him the invitation and he said he would be over in an hour with his tractor. Mary cleared off the air as monitoring.

“Okay,” I said, “we need to do a little work this morning before our guests arrive. Mary, why don’t you and Sylvia stay here and work the radio for contacts and monitor for calls. We’ll take HT’s and talk. That way, you’ll know what’s going on. Does that work for everyone?”

“No,” Shirley said, “I need Janice here to help me clean up. You and Michelle go up the drive and get started. We will join you in about an hour.”

With that, we all went about our chores. I took a blower and chain saw from the garage along with some chain and a come-along and put them in the back of the truck with a can of mixed gas and oil. Mr. Davidson had been a meticulous person and things in his garage were orderly and neat. I was striving to keep it that way in his memory and because it was a good idea. We piled into the truck and went up the drive. On the way, I asked Michelle if she could drive.

“I am learning. Sylvia is better, particularly, with Granddad’s truck. I did bring the keys though. Sylvia thought you would need them.”

“Sylvia was right. We will have to move it and then we’ll bring it to the house.” We arrived at my makeshift roadblock and got out. The tree was laying across at a slight angle to the drive and I thought the first thing would be to start removing limbs. I told Michelle I would do that with the chain saw if she would try to carry them into the woods out of the way. She nodded and we started to work. By the time Ted arrived with his tractor, we had made a very respectable start. I was ready to “top” the tree and cut it into manageable pieces for removal.

Shirley and Janice came up just as Ted drove up from the other side of the drive. Everyone met at the tree. He was introduced to Michelle and shook her hand telling her he was glad to meet her. We all conferred and decided to cut the tree into smaller pieces and haul the pieces a distance to keep the drive clean. Ted had brought a chain saw and, with two, the work went quickly. Ted backed his truck and trailer a bit and unloaded the tractor and brought it to the tree. He pushed the big pieces well off the road. Shirley went to my truck and got the blower and started clearing the drive of leaves. We followed her removing anything that didn’t blow easily. It took an hour to clear and return to the house. Back at the house, we washed up and had some water. We had heard Robert and Mitch talking to Mary and Sylvia on the Mt. Cheha repeater while we worked. They were close. Mary was giving them road instructions when we came in to the radio room. Ted again said that he liked our station. He noticed that we had added a CB and asked about that. I explained Janice’s reasoning and he agreed that it was a good idea.

 
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