Chapter 19

We walked inside. “Misty, Matt needs some help. Prisoner, lie down on your stomach.” He did and I hogtied him like the rest. Misty helped Matt off with his jacket and cleaned his arm where he had been shot.

“Thanks, Misty. Fortunately, my rifle took most of the hit. My arm is from a ricochet.”

As she finished, he looked down at our prisoners. “What are you going to do with the trash, Taylor?”

“We were just talking about sentencing. We know they’re guilty.”

“I guess they should be glad that mine is the worst wound we have. Had one of us been killed, we would not have taken prisoners.” I nodded.

“Matt, would you go up to their vehicles and get any ammo and guns out of them. Be careful though. There are still three vehicles roaming the western part of the county according to our prisoners.” Matt nodded and left.

Two days passed and no more vehicles came nor were there any on the main road. We still had our captives though they were suffering from the cold. I didn’t want to kill them in cold blood but was concerned about letting them go and them not come back.

The one who had talked, Jim Bales, had talked with the others. All but one had agreed to leave and never return. I stood in front of him and said, “I understand you won’t promise not to return?”

He looked at me grimly. “I’m coming back to get you and take the bitch.”

“I don’t think so.” I shot him and watched as he died. I then said, “Do any of you have any idea of violating your promise to me?” Heads shook. “If you return, we will get you if you’re lucky. If you’re captured by us, dying will take a while and be painful. We have fought off every attack and will do so in the future.”

We bundled them into two of the SUV’s with a little gas and no weapons. They left. Two weeks have passed and we haven’t been attacked. We have been vigilant including moving our observation posts.

There is a definite warming trend. We are experiencing a melt! It will take a while and it’s still cold but there is some hope as we go forward. The Weather Channel and news outlets are all talking about spring and the big melt.

We had a council and decided that our vigilance shouldn’t diminish just because the weather was improving. It would take some time for life to return to anything resembling normal. There were a lot of dead people as well as those sick and sickened by events.

I hoped for a healing but wasn’t going to depend upon the rule of law quite yet. The roads were still a mess and food and fuel were still not generally available. Gangs still roamed and preyed upon anyone who seemed to be weaker. There were known cases of vigilantism which combatted some of the gangs and curtailed their activities. It still wasn’t a pretty picture even though there was hope now.

The melt is in full force or whatever you call an uncontrolled melting of snow and ice that had accumulated over the North American continent since last July. We are seeing highs in the seventies and lows above freezing. The weathercasters say our nights would be warmer except for the cooling effect of the snow and ice as it melts. We have made one trip to our bolt hole to check it out and lift the tent into a tree’s fork. Jim and I built a small platform for it to rest upon. The tent color is a drab camo which we hope won’t be easily seen if someone goes looking for it. We’re hearing motors from trucks and other vehicles on the main road and that worries me.

I’m surprised we haven’t been visited by friend or foe. We are keeping watch and staying prepared. Things still aren’t on an even keel according to news reports.

We’re hearing reports of serious flooding on the news. I know some areas between our home and Marietta would be flooded because of the creeks. Further south, Sweetwater Creek would be really causing problems since it flooded when there was a heavy rain.

Some transportation was in motion. Rail and ground were both having problems from the melting snow and washed out bridges and roads. Agriculture is a problem because of the dust and cold. According to the forecasts, there is some real hope for the new growing season. We’ll see.

Reports are that the “left coast” has left. The west coast was hurt badly from Oregon all the way down. The Yellowstone volcanos haven’t gotten worse and have actually slowed down their spewing of ash. From San Francisco down, earthquakes had torn California apart with much of the state now on the floor of the Pacific. What was left was in bad shape. The Imperial Valley was ruined for the foreseeable future.

Mexico and the rest of Central America had also suffered from volcanos and earthquakes. That area and points further south no longer broadcast news reports. Information was heard primarily through the military and chartered news flights. I had a feeling that there were few survivors and organizations. Reporting to others wasn’t high on their list.

The rest of the world was quiet because the main engine of economic activity had been shut down. The rest of the world found that for the US to be missing was not good for their economies. Financially, the rest of the world was having a bad time. Europe had its own problems with the cold winter as did Russia. Russia’s only advantage was that they were more used to dealing with cold. Their problem was that it was so much more protracted and even more bitterly cold than usual.

It appeared that our county was slowly coming back under normal control. The group that had taken over in our county had been defeated by real police and the National Guard. Raids were no longer taking place though there were still a few isolated incidents occurring. We were on guard against those few smaller gangs.

It remained quiet as the temperature continued to rise. The melt caused some flooding in Georgia though it gradually dissipated. The central part of the US with the Mississippi River flooding bigger than it ever had in recorded history was devastated.

Things were continuing to quiet in the US as people repaired and replaced to get their lives back in order. We noted a very light bit of traffic on the main road. Our road continued to have almost no vehicles on it.