Tom motioned for the ladies to follow him to the cargo trailer and opened the door. A box of feminine hygiene supplies was stacked on top of a pile of women’s coats and other clothing.
Kate smiled, “Jackie, you and Granny B certainly raised Tom to be a good and thoughtful man.”
Jackie rubbed Tom’s head. “Be careful. He gets a big head and gets hard to reason with.”
“Not my Tommy Boy.”
Granny B was pleased with the radio equipment, and she was especially fond of the professional microphones. Her smile vanished. “Did you bring the antenna?”
“No. You know we can’t have a big antenna sticking up out of the trees. I think I have another solution. I found some industrial drones and thought I might lift an antenna into the sky and then rewind it when not needed. I don’t think that will work, but it did give me the idea to find a few large balloons like companies use to fly advertisements high above their businesses.”
Granny B chuckled. “That’ll work. Necessity is a mother.”
*
Chapter 18
The Clark Ranch
Tom strolled out of his room and yawned on his way to breakfast. He was disappointed because Kate wasn’t beside him when he woke for the morning. It had been her turn on guard duty, and she’s already pulled her two hours and was enjoying a cup of coffee when Tom entered the kitchen. The magnificent aroma of bacon floated through the air and made Tom’s mouth water, but he steered toward a cup of the black liquid he needed to jump-start his day. Kate handed him a cup and kissed him.
“I think you’re sleepwalking,” she said
She was honored with a grunt, and then Tom swallowed a mouthful of the prized black gold. “I’m alive! What the hell will we do when we run out of coffee?”
Everyone stopped and was in deep thought when Granny B said, “I’ll miss my tea after supper.”
Jackie’s eyes flared. “I already miss chocolate.”
Kate snickered. “Birth control.”
Tom said, “Hospitals and modern medicine.”
Bill growled. “I’ll miss gasoline. I’m too old to start walking everywhere. I guess I’ll get better at riding a horse.”
Alice looked down. “I already miss my soap operas. I don’t know if Jamie and Julie got married or if Wally found a cure for cancer.”
Tom broke out laughing, and Alice blushed. Tom said, “I won’t miss any commercials or cable TV. They were all spinning the news to promote their agenda and kept the country’s problems hidden.”
No one spoke for a few minutes. Tom asked, “What kind of novel ideas do you have for using a drone around the ranch? I found a half dozen or so of the commercial grade drones during our scavenging trip.”
Jack quickly answered. “We could watch the cattle remotely? Maybe catch some rustlers before they slaughter our cows.”
Bill pondered the question. “We used them in law enforcement to surveil criminal activity. How long can these things stay up in the air?”
“Good question. Perhaps I need to read the manuals and run some tests before challenging you all to give me ideas. Before we play with the drones, we need to make a run back down into town to liberate some food and other supplies. I think we should hit Talent this time,” Tom said.
Kate wiggled in her seat. “I’ll volunteer to read the manuals. My uncle and cousin had a couple of drones, and I’ve flown them several times. I’ll stay and study the drones to become our drone guru.”
Tom smiled at his beautiful wife. “You have the job. Maybe Greta and Lucy can help you.”
***
The city of Talent hadn’t yet recovered from a series of wildfires that swept up their way from north Ashland. The fires of 2020 had devastated the area, and the fires during the summer of 2033 added insult to injury. The fires of 2020 were found to be caused by careless bums camped out in north Ashland. The fires of 2033 were arson, caused by the riots when Talent and Ashland had had enough, rounded up the homeless and drugged-out hordes, and put them in jail.
Tom and Bill surveyed the area from the hulk of a burned-out barn. They saw a mixture of newly-built homes and vacant lots. A few of the lots had concrete foundations and brick chimneys still standing after five years had passed. James and Alice joined Tom and Bill in the barn. James said, “The feed store was looted, but they only took the obvious items. There are plenty of bulk and packaged seeds. There’s everything from fifty-pound bags of bulk corn seed to the small packages of garden seeds.”
Jerry chimed into the conversation. “I’ve found a couple of older trucks at an auto repair shop a block over. One started, and the other just needs a battery. I loaded cases of oil, some tires, and other spare parts into the one that runs. I’d like to bring both to the ranch when we leave.”
Tom gave Jerry a pat on the back. “Good job. See if you can fill the gas tanks and maybe get some extra gas. We’ll top off the bed with some of the bulk bags of seeds.”
James asked, “Is the other truck a straight shift?”
Jerry replied, “Yes, we can replace the battery and push start it. I’ve already topped off the tanks and have another twenty gallons of fuel.”
Tom saw something that looked like a deflated beach ball in James’s pile of seeds from the feed store. He pointed at the object. “What’s that?”
Jerry pointed at the object. “It’s a big red balloon for drawing attention to a business having a sale. I found two of those and one larger one
