Chapter 36

"Can any of you fly a B-52?" I asked.

"Sure, Roger could probably fly one, he just doesn't know it. Those fuckers use a shitload of fuel though. And they can't really be flown with just one pilot. They are also a bitch to make ready for flight without an experienced ground crew," Helen said.

We discussed what we might find at the airbase for a while longer. We had finished eating and Roger, Helen, and Brenda left to fly down for more helicopters. Aimee mentioned we would do better, as far as air defense against jets was concerned with the helicopter's stingers.

I told her we would spend some time gathering more of them as soon as we had all our flock gathered. She said we should really try to find some man portable stingers also.

Karen told me they had found what appeared to be a miniature slaughterhouse while exploring the buildings yesterday. Gloria spoke up and told us that was exactly what it was and it also had facilities for butchering.

She said she'd had instructions for using it all before the plague and she could slaughter and butcher both pork and beef. She said it had really just slipped her mind with everything else going on. She also told us the slaughterhouse had a large walkin freezer and two large walkin coolers. I thought we might want to unload the meat truck if there was room and she told me there was plenty.

Gloria had gotten up and airborne at six am to make the check call to Mike. He'd told her everything was ready and they could leave as soon as we got there. I decided to go ahead and leave.

I rode with Aimee and Gloria took Jasmine with her. She wanted to let Jasmine see if she thought she might like to learn to fly. We were at Mike's place in about an hour and a half amd when we landed Jasmine came to ask if it would be too much trouble to fly to her old place to pickup a few keepsakes she had left. I told her I thought it was a good idea and we would go as soon as Mike and I had finished.

Mike told me about the new young girls who had arrived on their own. They'd been hiding out near Jasmine's old place. They got worried when they saw Jasmine and her nieces were preparing to leave. They packed up and followed at a distance. They all knew Jasmine and her nieces but hadn't revealed themselves.

The girls were young. One was thirteen, three were fourteen and one was fifteen. They had lost contact with Jasmine and her nieces about ten miles before they reached Mike's place.

They'd hidden and spent a worried night alone, but were able to discover Mike's place the next day when we had been flying to and from it and they had just appeared after we left, asking to be taken in. I told Mike they would be a welcome addition, especially to Johnny. I asked him to keep them hidden until I was out of sight.

Mike and I finished talking and I told Jasmine we could leave. I boarded Aimee's chopper and we left. Gloria set down when we got there and Aimee just circled.

Jasmine was in and out in thirty minutes. She put some things in a cargo compartment and she and Gloria lifted off. We flew back by the site of yesterday's dust up. The wreckage of the humvee had been pushed off the highway and the gang was nowhere in sight.

A few miles up the road we saw a large RV which was stopped and steaming. A man was working in the engine compartment and he waved to us as we circled. I had Aimee set down and let me out unarmed about four hundred yards from him. She lifted off and I started waving my white T-shirt at him.

He got a white rag form inside his RV and waved it back at me and then started toward me. When he was about halfway to me I heard Gloria setting down behind me. I motioned for the man to stop and he did. I went back to Gloria and Jasmine and when I got there Jasmine told me she knew the man.

He and his small group had been staying near her old place and they had talked a few time. She had even known him before the sickness. She said he was around thirty and had always been honest and hardworking. He had been a millwright in a local paper mill.

I thanked her for the information and asked them to get back up. I turned back toward the man and signaled for him to continue his approach.

The gang had scared George and his group also. They had never visited George and he didn't want them knowing where he was. He had found the RV after their little excursion yesterday and had decided to move. They were the ones who moved the humvee and they'd wondered who had turned the gang back. We admitted we'd done it and then I asked George what his trouble was.

The RV had blown a radiator hose and George was uneasy about being stranded here. I asked him how many were with him. He told me it was just he and four women so I asked if he would like to join us and told him Jasmine was with us.

He didn't want to commit to joining us, but he did ask if we could take him away from here. I told him we could fly them to Mike's place but we couldn't carry many of their belongings. He wasn't too worried about it. He said if he could get over into Texas he could probably find a wrecker and come get the RV easier than fixing it. He didn't know Mike but he did trust Jasmine.

I signaled for Aimee to come and get me and told George we would circle and watch over them until they got their things loaded. I told him the pilot could tell him how much they could carry, but I warned him we had more passengers to pick up at Mike's and if they decided to join us we would probably have to leave some of his things until we could come back after them tomorrow. He agreed and went back to the RV to tell his women what was going on.

Aimee took me back up and I told Gloria to land as close to the RV as was safe and to let George and his group load all she thought she could carry to Mike's. She landed and Jasmine got out to help and talk to George.

It only took about an hour and then Gloria was airborne with George and his women and their things. We made it back to Mike's without further incident. The extra flying would cause Aimee to need to refuel but Gloria would not have any problem. The only problem now was what to do with all the people we needed to haul.

By the time Gloria had landed at Mike's, George wanted to talk to me again about joining us. Aimee set down also. We didn't think there was much danger here right now.

I talked to George and explained some of how we did things. He decided it was better than anything he'd heard of so far and decided to join. We had plenty of people to move now and not enough helicopters. Gloria said she could fix us up if she could go up and catch Brenda or Helen. I told her to give it a shot.

She went aloft and was back down in ten minutes saying we were set if everybody's cargo could ride in Mike's truck. Mike said there was room and so we moved everything. Mike's truck was a day cab so he could only take one passenger comfortably. Gloria had it covered.

Brenda was coming in a Cherokee and Helen would be landing the Lear Jet at the strip we'd used for refueling. Gloria would take one load to the airstrip and Aimee and I could stay with them while they waited for Helen. Gloria would come back to get the rest and fly them home.

Brenda could watch over Mike's trip and Aimee and I could refuel at the airstrip. It sounded good to me. I asked Gloria to make sure the five young girls were in the Lear Jet so Johnny could meet them as soon as they arrived and we were set.

After all the baggage had been loaded in Mike's truck I asked Mike to keep the new girls inside until I was airborne. He agreed and then Aimee and I got up to make a circle and then we told Gloria to go as soon as she was ready.

She lifted off almost immediately and we headed for the airstrip. When we arrived we circled while Gloria was unloading. Gloria left when she had discharged her passengers and Helen landed a few minutes later. She had been circling waiting on the all clear.

The five girls and three of Mike's women boarded the Lear. Helen asked if she needed to wait on more passengers and I told her to go ahead. When she was gone Aimee and I landed and refueled. We checked the fuel level in the airstrip's tank and there were about six hundred gallons left after we refueled.

George asked if he could stay so he could go and get his RV. He wanted to bring it to Texas with a wrecker and then try to repair it to drive it to our place. Gloria said there was no need for that. She, Brenda, and Helen had found twelve Chinooks which had all just been completely overhauled at Ft Hood and they would just go down and pick one up.

They could fly back with the Chinook and a gunship tomorrow and load all his things into it and just fly back. It would be easiest unless he had some sentimental attachment to the actual RV. He said he had none and seemed relieved he wouldn't have to drive it so far.

Mike and Gerri got in his truck and headed for our place. This left three of Mike's women and George and his four women to fly with Gloria. Aimee and I went back up to guard Gloria during her return home. Brenda would take the slow haul back circling Mike's truck. About fifteen minutes after leaving Mike's place I thought of the two dozers on the lowboy at Rip Off Griffin's.

I asked Gloria if she would be safe going home alone. She said she felt sure she would, but I called home and asked Helen to get a Cherokee and head this way to take over guarding Gloria. I had Aimee detour back to Rip Offs and set down in the lot.

I went over to the rig with the dozers and I liked it even better on this look. It was a really big heavy haul trailer which was lightly loaded with the two dozers. It had more axels loaded on itself than it had on the ground.

I checked the tractor and it fired right up. The sleeper was empty and the fuel gauge showed nearly full. I told Aimee I was going to wait for Mike and then fall out after him. I told her she could just head on home after telling Brenda what was up, but she wanted to stay around until Brenda got closer so I asked her to do a little circling and looking around.

While walking around in the parking lot looking for anything else we might use I found a giant Cat rubber tired loader. It was a 988B. This was the second largest rubber tired loader Cat built. It was loaded partially disassembled on another heavy haul trailer. Parked next to it was a lowboy that had is tires and wheels, bucket and ROPS.

Across the lot there was a heavy hauler with a dozer that was much larger than the two I was taking. I checked the bills on some of the dry vans and found a straight truck of Ranch Style Beans. We would be back to this truck stop soon for some shopping.