The man’s eyes widened a bit and he paled beneath the tan.
“I did not know this. At least not the extent.” He said in a deep voice.
“Yes sir. My friend and I’ve been traveling and you’re the first person we’ve seen for days. When I was in Philadelphia, out of over a million and a half people, there were maybe forty or fifty. These were people I actually saw. We’ve not seen another living soul, sir.”
“We did not know it was this terrible.” Was all the man could say, he was shaking his head.
“Yes sir. I think our world has been cut down. Sir, my friend and I have no way nor any knowledge on how to survive. We were hoping that if someone, would take us in, teach us, we could become part of a community. We only know of the Amish, who live in a world of no electricity. My friend and I want to learn. We’d work hard, if you’d let us join you.” Flynn asked softly.
The man jerked back as though stung. He began shaking his head.
“No, that isn’t possible. No, I’m sorry. We cannot help you.” He said.
Flynn’s mouth began to tremble and his eyes stung with tears. His shoulders fell and he nodded. He turned, to go back to the truck.
“Young man, go south, toward Paradise, and past that to Belmont. There is a large farm there, and my friend, Cliff Richland owns that farm. It is a big farm and I think they could help you and your friend.” The man said, his expression softening.
“Thank you, sir, thank you.” Flynn said, ignoring the tears that were sliding down his face.
“Tell Cliff that Claus sent you.” The man said kindly and turned to walk back up to his home.
Flynn climbed into the truck and looked at Xandra.
“He said for us to go see a Mr. Cliff Richland. He said he is a farmer and might take us in.”
“Oh, my god, I hope so.” Xandra breathed and reached over and squeezed his arm. Flynn turned the truck around in the road and lifted his hand in farewell to the man on the porch. The man lifted his hand in farewell.
Ӝ
Emma was standing shin deep in the water. Amanda and Hailey were playing at the water’s edge. Coop and Dillan were down for their naps. Brian and BJ were out hunting. They’d been eating quite a bit of fish and Emma and Paadi told the men they were about to revolt if they didn’t get some kind of meat, other than fish, on the table tonight. She smiled at the thought. The men had been happy to go out and hunt. Paadi had wanted to go, but was reluctant to leave Hailey. She’d become very attached to the little girl. Every evening, Paadi read the children stories, and Hailey planted square in her lap, her small fingers entwined in Paadi’s long black hair. The child had started to mimic Paadi’s heavy Boston accent and it was hysterical. When Emma would start to snigger, Paadi would shoot her a dirty look. The children had changed their lives into something quite remarkable.
Paadi was in the garden, some of the tomatoes had begun to ripen, along with a few green peppers. The zucchini and squash were also ready to harvest. It was a good thing that Brian had picked up the grown plants. The seeds were coming along, but it would be weeks until the other plants began to produce. They would have fresh vegetables tonight with dinner, which Brian and BJ would provide. The bulk of the veggies would be canned or dehydrated for long term use. Winter would be long and though they had plenty of food stores, all had agreed that they should proceed as though they didn’t.
Both Emma and Paadi had spent hours going through all the store canned foods, as well as the boxed and dried foods. The women checked the expiration dates. They took a magic marker and wrote the dates on the front of the cans and boxes, easily seen. Then they stacked and arranged their foods per dates. Oldest first, so they wouldn’t go out of date. Emma was sure they could still eat the out of date food, but they didn’t want to waste anything. It also let them know the volume of food and kept them conscious of their meals and daily menu.
They’d also been surprised to see that the apple trees had apples on them. There weren’t many, but each of the trees had a dozen or better. They were only about six feet tall, but Emma thought that next year, they’d hopefully double the number of fruits. This fall, she and Paadi would make apple butter. It wouldn’t be a lot, but she thought they could get half a dozen pint jars, maybe more. There were no peaches, but there had been. They’d dried and fallen off the trees. That told her that next year, they’d have peaches. Perhaps not a lot, but some.
The chicken poop would be kept and dried for future fertilizer. It was natural and organic. They were beginning to get into the rhythm of living in the park. It was quite a bit more work, but it was gratifying to see their efforts prove out and their camp becoming a real home. They’d run into horrible people but Emma hoped that those people would move on or die. She was sure that within a year, many people would die, because if they couldn’t find a way to grow food, preserve food and hunt food, they’d die.
Also, if they remained in the cities, she was sure disease was running rampant by now. Anyone who’d survived the Vermilion Strain, would face possible if not probable death due to the biohazard swimming in such
