The Escape

Chapter 2

DwainPablacio

Well, now it was Tuesday and last night I had my first shower in my cabin. Man did that feel great, but it made me realize I had another problem; the hot water tank was too small. Since it was the first of the month and I had money, I decided to go to town and buy a bigger one. I had put in a 6 gallon one out of an RV and in my own defense, I thought it would be big enough for one person if you were fast. Wrong! If you have a bad hip and knee and a bad back, hot water is a miracle treatment when you're hurting from too much bending and twisting. I had let the hot water run on my back last night and by the time I got soaped up to wash it was pure cold water from the spring. Man, you talk about an eye opener! I made up my mind then and there I was getting a bigger tank if I had to drive all the way to Tucson to find one. No more cold showers for me! Besides, I had a shipment of ammo coming in that should have been delivered yesterday if UPS was on time. My friend BK would sign for it, so I knew it should be there and I needed to pick it up. My friend BK and I were shooting freaks and we were always ordering something on sale from the online gun sites. This time I had ordered several thousand rounds of sixty grain 22 long rifle ammo. It had been on sale so I snatched it up. I had a 22 rifle and pistol that I loved to plink with and a 9mm pistol. Now BK was into the long rifles and had several that he used, but where I liked open sights, BK loved scopes. He would get lost in his own little world shooting at targets you couldn't see with the naked eye. I hated scopes and always have, but then again I preferred pistols. It took me a year to persuade him to even buy one and after he did, he had a lot of fun with it, even if he couldn't hit the broad side of a barn. I was on the main road when I remembered I had forgotten to bring the trailer so back I went.

When I walked into the hardware store in Willcox, the only people I saw were the employees. I found a thirty gallon hot water heater that was 115 volt and spoke for it immediately. I had plenty of extra pvc and all the extras in a pile out back of the cabin, so the only expense I had was the tank itself. The clerk loaded it and tied it down for me so I headed back to BK's place to check on my ammo. When I walked in, he was reloading shells as usual. I figured he had bought more brass from the company I bought the ammo from.

"Hey old man, your 22s are here. How damned many more did you buy? He had to cart them in on a dolly. Did you get the generator hooked up yet? I plan on coming out next week to do some shooting and will bring the long tape to measure off yards. Hey, have you heard about this new flu? They are saying it has a 94% death rate. It started on the east coast, but when I was at Mom's yesterday, they said it had spread to Texas and that they were considering implementing Martial Law to control the panic. The hospitals are turning people away and telling them to stay home and drink plenty of liquids."

"The guys mentioned it last week, but since I can't even get cell or radio out there that was all I heard about it. I ordered 5,000 rounds since they were half off. Besides, I been wanting some of the 60 gr to try out. I wonder if they will be accurate beyond a hundred yards."

"Well, they should be, but we will have to try them out. You got room out there for me to stay a couple of days? Since you moved out, I ain't got no one to yell at. I thought maybe I would come out and see this place you been braggin' about. It's just too damned quiet around here all by myself."

He gave me a shit eating grin and went back to priming brass while I carried the ammo out to the trailer. He was right about one thing though, I did miss having him around. We had been roommates for several years and gotten comfortable with each other's company. We were a couple of old farts that had the same hobby and enjoyed each other's company most of the time. Of course we stayed in our rooms and took turns cooking meals when we felt like it, which wasn't often. Since I no longer had internet, I had to come here to get online, but that just gave me an excuse to come to town. I bid him goodbye and said I would see him next week sometime, and headed back to the cabin.

I got the tank hooked up and was sitting back smoking my pipe and sipping coffee when I heard a horn honking. I grabbed the binoculars and looked up at the gate. There was a Sheriff's car sitting there, so I got up and headed up to see what was going on. It was my friend the deputy that lived down the road and the news he had wasn't great.

"I know you heard about this new flu, but there is something I need to tell you about that hasn't been on the radio or TV. They sent all law enforcement a bulletin advising us to immediately burn the bodies of the dead. If this hadn't come from CDC I would have laughed, but they are coming back alive after they die."

"How the hell can someone come back alive after they die, Barry? You mean they are zombies?"

"From what they told us, if we run across any of them we are to immediately shoot them in the head. Hell, Thom, if I knew the answer to it I would tell you. How are you set for ammo? I have a couple extra cases of 9mm if you need some. I would appreciate some 22s for my kid's guns if you have any extra. I am going to make sure my family is safe and I taught those kids how to shoot so I know they will be ok. I went to Wal-Mart in Benson and Safford, but they were out of everything, even guns. They are going crazy in the bigger cities and everyone is afraid to go outside. The Sheriff told us to stay in our home towns and protect the people there, and not worry about answering calls unless it is close to where we live. When I bring up a case of nines, I will bring that extra ATV with me so you don't have to walk to the gate. I know it kills your hip 'cause I watched you start limping about half way here. Thom, it might be best if you stock up on some gas for your car and the ATV. If they shut down the interstate we won't have a way to resupply anytime soon. I have been hauling in extra food and other supplies all week. I know everyone around here has been doing the same thing. I wasn't supposed to tell anyone but you're one of us."

"Thanks, Barry, give me a ride to the cabin and I will get those 22s for you, and see if there's anything else you might need. I have enough bulk food for a year, but fresh meat is what I can kill 'cause I just have a small refrigerator for milk and butter. Of course I could start rustling, but knowing my neighbors they would hang me then call the law."

To say the news was good would be to lie, but I figured out here we wouldn't be bothered too much. Besides, I had fixed the cabin up to withstand a siege, although if asked, I would not be able to tell you why I did it. It was two huge rooms when I bought it, but I had changed it into two small bedrooms with bunk beds in both. Mine had one of those metal beds with a single on top and a full on the bottom that folded up into a couch for extra seating. I had mounted 12 volt fans near the top of the doorways to help heat the small rooms, and with the wood burner, I was sure it would heat the whole cabin. Last winter when it got down in the twenties, I had stoked it up and it kept it almost 60 degrees in the whole cabin. Since I was only experimenting, I also let smoke in so I could see where the leaks were, and boy there were a lot of them. I finally ended up putting sheets of galvanized tin over the wooden shingles on the roof. I hung gutters to catch the rain water for the garden I might have time to put in someday. With the small 12 volt fans near the ceiling, none of the heat was wasted as it kept circulating around the top of the cabin. I had also foam sealed the base as well as mortared the foundation stones to keep the air out from under the floors. There was 2 inches of foam insulation between the rafters of the roof that kept the heat in so I didn't lose much. I still hadn't found the quartz mine and the fella I bought the cabin from was back east. He was visiting his daughter, and I wondered if he was ok. He would know where it was at, when and if he came back.

"Here are 1500 rounds that should shoot just fine in their Rugers, Barry. If they need more, I have quite a few rounds stored away. Barry, if it comes to nut cracking, all of you are welcome here. Your place is pretty exposed, but the only way in here is the way you just came in. The logs in this old place are thick as hell and the door is steel. I have custom made steel shutters I can put across the two windows that I bought at a home repair place in Safford. I have inside water as well as electricity from my generator and the ten solar panels I have on the roof. There is no cover out there so they can't sneak up on me."

"Thanks, I appreciate that. I will let the kids and my wife know when I get back home. If it comes to that, we will consider this a fallback position. Thom, if it gets that bad, we will be on our own out here so don't trust any strangers. I will see you tomorrow."

I rode back to the gate with him, giving him an extra key to the lock. As I walked back to the cabin I wondered if it was really gonna get that bad. Boy was I in for a rude awakening in my senior years.