Chapter 7: Life Continues

Ben and the three T's were hitting it off better than anyone would have thought. Linda pointed out that a sentry should be in the tower during the day and all of the ladies agreed to take a watch. Two-Feather, Ben and I were not allowed to take a watch. We were the full time response team as the ladies put it. Amy pointed out that they had us out numbered three to one. So we had a sentry with a radio and binoculars nine hours a day. Everyone carried a radio, pistol and at least one rifle when away from the house.

Breakfast was over and Amy suddenly said, "When do I learn about guns? I have never touched a gun in my life." Everyone looked at me; I smiled and said, "Let's look at what we have." The squeal was cut short as Amy covered her mouth. Giggling, everyone else began chores and cleaning. Brenda took the first watch. Amy and I went to the weapons safe. We took all the small frame pistols, a .410 and 20-gauge shotgun; several rifles and then picked up ammunition for them.

We loaded my small truck and drove out to the shooting range. Amy was very cautious at first. She would close her eyes during each shot. Once she got used to the small kick the weapons made she began to get more confidant and her aim improved. Amy liked a .40 caliber Ruger semi-automatic pistol. An old Army 30-caliber carbine turned out to be her favorite long gun. She could handle the pump 20-guage but preferred the .410.

Amy said, "The two shotguns kick the same. I like this one cuz it is like the other rifle." She was holding the .410 autoloader and was referring to the carbine. We packed up and headed back to the house. We cleaned all the weapons that had been fired before putting them away. Amy kept the pistol, carbine, and .410 along with ammo and magazines for the carbine and pistol. We were finished just before lunch. Cheryl had set out several holsters for Amy to pick from. She settled for a holster with a metal belt clip. She could wear it on her belt or on either side of a figure 8 shoulder rig; just about anywhere the clip would fit.

Two Spirits was busy preparing dinner and caught Amy's eye. Something stirred inside her and she was not sure what the feelings were but she liked the way it made her feel.

Two Spirits noticed the look on Amy's face every time she looked at her; she was not sure what to make of it and decided to confront her about it. She asked Amy if she could help her with dinner. Amy quickly agreed and the two began a casual conversation. When it finally came out that Amy had feelings she could not explain Two Spirits smiled and asked if she wanted to join her and Two-Feather that evening. Amy was embarrassed and politely refused but Brenda had heard most of the conversation and took both girls outside to talk more in private.

Ben and Two-Feather had started to clear a field for a garden and I joined them after lunch. By dinner we had plowed the whole area. We would plant seed tomorrow. Two-Feather had figured a way to run a windmill driven pump to irrigate the garden. We would be spending a lot of time working the garden and getting to know each other more.

After diner everyone went to their rooms and turned in early for the night. I had Cheryl, Michelle, Brenda, Amy, and Linda all piled on or around me when I woke the next morning. I was very sore and my groin was raw. Just how many times did I do it last night?

Brenda and Two-Spirits made the announcement after both returned from the bathrooms with morning sickness. Two-Feather and I were glowing and everyone else was very happy. A few days later Teri joined them in the bathroom. She was the first of the three T's to get pregnant. I called the hospital and asked about any concerns we might need to lookout for. Sharron Rizelli a retired RN and the voted in leader of the Hospital group let me know there was nothing to be concerned about. Treat it like any other pregnancy and call them if we had any question.

Captain Smith came by that weekend and was happy to hear the news. It seemed like most of the survivors were getting back to normal. It was very encouraging. He said that their OB/GYN would like to come by and check all the mommies out if it would be ok. They all agreed.

The last time the army came by they dropped off Military A-rations. They are everything you need to fix a meal in three boxes. Each box would normally feed 15-20 people. We would only prepare half at a time. Only one box out of the three needed to be refrigerated or kept frozen. We were left with 50 meals just in case we needed them. The refrigeration trailer CPT Smith left held all 50 boxes of frozen rations and left us enough room to add most of the meat we had butchered. All we had to do was fill the trailer refrigerator's diesel fuel tank every couple of days. We tried one of each of the menus just to see how they tasted and make sure we knew what we were doing. An Army cook took a day to show everyone how to prepare the meals.

We all enjoyed the meal, it was not the best food we had tasted but it was filling and nutritious. The fact that the food would last longer was an additional bonus. After cleaning up and saying good-bye to Captain Smith and his group, we all turned in for the night.

A couple of days later, early in the morning Two-Feather, Ben and I began to work the field planting corn, green beans, carrots, potatoes, tomatoes, peas, wheat, lettuce, and cabbage. We felt that these would be the easiest to care for and harvest. At lunchtime we stopped and returned to the house to eat and take a break. The girls had fixed a great meal. We cleaned up, sat down and began to eat.

Amy was on watch; she called on the radio that we had company coming up the road fast. Everyone moved like his or her pants were on fire. Yet nobody ran into anyone or got in anybodies way. Ben, Two-Feather and I walked out of the house each holding a combat rifle. Brenda joined Amy in the tower. All of the other girls were moving to windows or out the back door to sweep to the sides of the house.

Three trucks and a Winnebago came roaring into the driveway. There were women or girls driving all of the vehicles. Without any introductions 8 females came out of the various vehicles. They were all armed, but ignored us and turned to face back down the road. We could hear why before we could see the motorcycles coming up the road. It sounded like more than a dozen. I called Amy on the radio and asked what she could see. Brenda called back that there were at least eight motorcycles four across two deep coming up the road making enough dust to mask any others that might be following them. I told both Brenda and Amy to take out the middle two cycles. There was a short pause followed by two shots so close together that if you did not know two people shot you would think it had only been one.

Two-Feather nodded as he began to move around the house to our far left flank. I knew he was moving to prevent anyone from getting around our left flank. Since our right flank was the open hay field it was easy to cover and see moving objects. The trees, ridgeline and rock outcroppings to the left made for the perfect assault where the enemy was trying to attack from. There was only the road and our short drive between this and our ranch. Michelle was calling for help on the radio and checking our medical supplies. Two-Spirits and the twins were loading magazines. I asked the women what was going on.

A young looking girl called me to the Winnebago and I found a wounded young man inside. Zeb introduced himself and explained that they all were running from a radical crazy group of Mormons. He said he was sorry to have involved us. There was another young man in even worse shape named Orlando. I called Michelle and asked her to come check them both out. Brenda called over the radio that several more bad guys were now dismounted and moving up the road all heavily armed.