Chapter 58

Going back into the house, surprisingly, I didn't bump into anyone I wanted to fuck right away. It was a new feeling. I found a beer in the refrigerator and headed for my study.

There was nothing I really needed to do right now and it was another new feeling. I sat in my chair and drank on the long neck while I tried to get my mind focused on just where we were. We needed to get the Hawkeyes up and check out the other facilities, but the job seemed to be progressing without me. I would need to be here tomorrow when the other half of the home security team showed up to introduce myself, and Seven told me I really should be present when their reference was changed to me.

All the other facilities needed to be activated and I should be there for the teams and be present while their references were changed. I wondered if I needed to make a speech or a little pep talk. I didn't guess it was necessary. They should already know their duties pretty well and I wasn't much for making speeches anyway.

No doubt I was going to be left out of the loop now as far as participating in armed engagements. I didn't mind going on the excursions, but I was sure Seven and all the other team leaders would consider it too dangerous.

It probably was, especially since they knew more about what they were doing than I did. It wasn't because I was so worried about myself, but I knew I might make a mistake they never would and I shuddered at the thought of getting one of them wounded or killed from my ignorance.

My job needed to change into telling them what I wanted to happen and then letting them get it done. I supposed I would be behind the curve on such for a while also. Seven knew where all our assets were and how to get them where they needed to be, when they needed to be there. I was beginning to think my last constructive idea might go down as the chicken house repopulation.

Just then I heard some helicopters coming over. I went outside and looked toward the airstrip. It looked like there were about twenty helicopters landing and waiting to land. I walked off toward the strip.

Henny was waving her arms directing the different helicopters where to land. I walked to her and asked what was going on.

"It's just a ferry flight from Ft Hood. They've kept pretty steadily at it since yesterday. They think they'll have all the choppers worth getting up here by tomorrow. They've been bringing extra supplies and armaments in the Chinooks, but there are still a lot of things down there we should bring up here. The trouble is, we're about to run out of room to store stuff."

"What about the cargo planes we brought here. Can't you store it in them?" I asked.

"We've already got them all full. We have most of the barn space full too, except for the cow barn. We're trying to save it for food storage only," she said.

"Well it sounds like we need to start hauling the materials in trucks. We can just grab empty trailers and then leave it in the trailers when we get it here. We might have to pack them full bringing the stuff here and then shift some of the loads for easier access after they get here, but semi-trailers are going to be our best bet for moving and fast storage too."

"Now there's a good plan and it would work out fine. We need to get on with it. I think we have plenty of drivers now," Henrietta said.

"We'll need to send a couple of Cobras or some other armed escort with them."

"We sure don't have a shortage of helicopters or pilots now. We could give them twenty or thirty escorts," she said.

"What about fuel? How's it holding out?"

"Nothing to worry about so far. The tanks here will hold fifty thousand gallons and they were nearly full when we started. Everything that flies in is fueled to the top before they leave for here. Most even have the extra ferry tanks on them and those aren't even half empty when they get here. If we put all the extra fuel from the ferry tanks into the ground we would probably run out of tank space before we got them all empty," she said.

"Those tanker pilots told me they could land a KC-10 here if it was only half loaded. Half a load would give us twenty thousand gallons of jet fuel. We could even drag one over by the tanks and fill it up for extra storage. It just couldn't leave until we got it about half empty again," she explained.

"Well I'll talk it over with Jasmine and Seven, but it seems to me we need to get some empty trailers after we get all the helicopters up here - then we can just send a convoy down to pick up a lot of the cargo down there. We'll probably need to get some more tractors also. Might as well bring plenty of trucks at a time," I said.

The pilots and crewmembers for the Hawkeyes came walking down from the house about then. They talked to Henny and made preparations to get up. They were going to try and make contact with the other facility's security hardware. If the teams at any of the facilities had been activated they would be able to tell right away. They should also be able to access the security sensors even if the teams hadn't been activated. That would let us know if there were any squatters present.

I headed back to the command center to see what was happening there. When I arrived they were pretty much on hold waiting for the Hawkeyes to get airborne. I asked Seven and Jasmine what they thought about sending for trucks and trailers to start moving the materials from Ft Hood. They thought it was a good idea and asked where we would get the trucks. I told them truck stops were the best places.

Jasmine said the last ferry was over for the day, and the team members who had done the flying could probably get one round of trucks today before dark. I told her there were also others here who could drive trucks. She said she would gather the team members and ask if I would recruit other volunteer drivers. I said I would and I would get Aimee and Helen to fly cover for them then I went back to the house.

I saw Nancy and Karen in the kitchen and asked them if they would like to do a little trucking. They said they would like to have something constructive to do for a change.

Karen gathered Beverly, Jana, Sharon, Janet, and Diane who all wanted to go. Jenna could drive a truck but hadn't done much of it, so we left her in the computer room, but warned her there would soon be more inventory arriving.

I found Aimee and Helen and told them what was up. They got Gloria too since she could take some of us in the Sikorsky. Gloria found Jan too since she could take the rest of us in a Huey. We gathered our side arms and left for the airstrip.

When we got to the truck stop, one we hadn't been to before, its lot was crowded. We checked out the trucks and tried to pick the best looking truck and trailer combination, but we also considered what it was loaded with. As long as we were taking them we might as well get loads we could use also.

We ended up with thirty nice trucks and trailers and the thirty loads of food and other supplies were just a bonus. I was happy we happened to get two straight loads of tampons. Looked like we were going to need more of these than I had ever expected.

When we backed the first of the trucks into the cow barn's loading dock I realized we needed to find a food warehouse or some kind of warehouse tomorrow and get some more forklifts. It was going to be a trial unloading thirty trucks with one forklift.

Well, it would just be something else I could do to keep busy. I thought I might as well look around until I found some good electric forklifts and we could take all the extra batteries and chargers too.

It looked like the slow unloading would put the truck trip off for one more day at least. It didn't matter because there were still more helicopters we needed to get ferried tomorrow. I couldn't help but remember the first time I'd looked at all those helicopters at Ft Hood and wished I could take just one. Now I had hundreds. No doubt we'd also have more MREs than we could ever eat before we were through.

No doubt I'd done at least enough today to pay for my supper so I went to the cafeteria to find a meal. I didn't even know half the women who seemed to be cooking and serving. I did know Susan though and the twins. They had more food than I could eat in front of me in just a couple of minutes. Amber and Julia even offered to feed me.

I told them I might want some whisker biscuit later tonight and they giggled and told me I knew where I could get some.

Johnny came up then and I asked him to sit down. He did and Julia asked if she could get him something to eat. I noticed him eyeing her pretty good, but I didn't say anything. He told her what he wanted for supper and she left to get it.

"How's it hanging Johnny?" I asked.

"Everything's lovely."

"So, did you pick up any of the young girls from the gang?" I asked.

"I started to, but didn't. I know it will probably seem silly to you now, but I've been thinking about older women lately," he said, and grinned.