The Days After (Big River) Read online

  “So, where are you headed?” asked Clay.

  “I ain't going anywhere,” he said with certainty. “This town is home, took me about two weeks to get here. You had to be careful who you trusted, mostly just walked. When I got here, my parents were not at the house. A man over at the high school gym told me that they had been on a trip to see my uncle, about fifty miles from here. They haven't been back since everything went to sh—t.”

  “I am sorry,” said Louis. “What about the town here, how bad are things?”

  Willie explained to them that it was nothing like the big cities. Some folks had left, some had joined together and kept things pretty stable. “I wouldn't walk around without a weapon,” he said.

  Clay said, “We're going to be moving on up river pretty soon. We were hoping to find a bar-b-que pit and maybe some propane bottles. Of course, we always need diesel fuel.”

  The young man laid the pole on the pier beside him and turned to put his boots back on, “Tell you what, you see back down river, where that willow tree hangs out over the river? Put in at the tree and I will meet you down there. I might can help you out.”

  They drifted back and tied the boat off. A good distance from the shore, there was a neat frame house, shrubs and flowers along the front. Behind the house was a tall wooden privacy fence. Shortly, Willie walked up and motioned them towards the house.

  “Nice house,” said Louis.

  “Thanks, my parents worked hard,” he opened a gate in the fence and when the two stepped through, a sea of various and assorted junk scattered in front of them.

  Willie said, “Dad is a bit of a Sanford and Son type, doesn't believe in wasting stuff.” He flashed a nice smile at them. “I think somewhere in all this, are two or three bar-b-que grills.”

  They walked, stepped over, pushed through and looked under. Everything from old lawnmowers to small garden tools, metal cabinets, parts and pieces piled up in rows. They did find three bar-b-que grills. The best and heaviest was a stainless steel gas grill, but the burner could be taken out, if necessary. They dug around deeper in the treasure trove of salvage and found some sheet metal that could be used to reinforce the bottom.

  “Now, any propane bottles around here are empty. We could go into town, if you are willing to risk it and I think we might find a bottle or two. As far as the diesel, I can't think of a supply anywhere, unless we just spot something in town,” said Willie.

  “That sounds like it's worth a try. Let's get this pit into the boat. All we have to pay you with is a six pack of beer and a cigar. Will you accept that?” asked Clay.

  The young man stuck his hand out, “Deal! Beer is something I don't have around here.”

  Willie pulled his rifle around so that he could have his hand on it, the others followed his lead. They moved in towards the main district of the small town. Broken windows and empty stores had become the pitiful theme of cities and towns, this one was no different. Two grubby men stepped out from the door of a building. “Where you boys goin'?” snarled one stained toothed thug.

  All three rifles were at the ready. The young man noticed the army fatigue shirt that the thug had stretched over a beer belly, one button straining, he recognized the shirt as one of his. One day when he was out fishing, someone broke into the house. If someone tried it again, they would be met with some unpleasant surprises and booby traps. Matter of fact, he had to laugh when he noticed a big gouge on the bald head of one of the men. It was most likely from a huge can of bolts, nails and assorted metal pieces that dumped on his head, when he opened Willie's back door.

  “What's so G---damn funny, you monkey!” said the beer bellied man. He and his partner had weapons, before they could even lift them, three rifles leveled at them, with clicks of readiness.

  “We are going wherever we please, you scumbag. Might be over your dead body,” said Willie, not laughing at all now. He, Louis and Clay eased by, backed away. Willie fired a shot at the sidewalk in front of the man and shouted as the two ran, “Nice shirt!”

  As they proceeded down the street, Willie said, “Just local bums, never been worth anything.”

  Louis put his hand on the young man's shoulder, “Son, there is still some food around here, I suppose. That won't be true forever, people like that will become more and more hungry, then more and more dangerous. You stay on your toes, don't underestimate their willingness to kill you.”

  At the end of the street, a hardware store stood. The front doors were propped open. The owner had given up on protecting his goods. It was pretty well stripped. He and a few of the other town folk had taken what hadn't been looted and was useful to the high school gym where they could guard it. Out back, a long rack held five gallon propane bottles. They looked through and found two that were filled. They were moving back to the wide open front entrance when Louis backed up and spat out a couple of curse words. The biggest head that he had ever seen, especially on a horse, stuck through the doorway.

  A man in overalls, with a leather tooled gun belt and .45 around his waist, stepped up and pushed the huge equine snout out of the door, “Hey Willie,” he said.

  Willie shook the man's hand, “How are you, Mister Price?

  “Oh, purty good...doin' okay,” answered the man.

  “This is Louis and Clay, they are traveling up river. They needed some propane, so we came scrounging,” said Willie. “We found a couple of bottles.”

  Clay moved forward and gently slid his hand down the long horses face. He had never been so close to such a majestic animal. It was stunning, obviously cared for. The coat was slick and silky, the feet in skirts of long hair. There was a saddle that sat on a strong back, well above the height of Clay's head. He couldn't imagine how this small man would mount that saddle. They visited for a short while, Willie warned Mr. Price to look out for the no-goods.

  To Clay's amazement, the man led the horse over to a concrete bench, stepped up on the bench, into the stirrups and hopped into the saddle. He ambled off, looked ever much like a child compared to the Clydesdale he rode. Louis, the whole time seemed to be stunned, he said, “Lor-de, what an animal. Wish Jacob and Allie could have seen her.”

  Willie said, “Wait here a minute.” He ran and caught up with Mr. Price, said something to him and trotted back to the store front. “If you will bring the kids back over to the house this afternoon, Mr. Price will bring the horse. There is a ranch out west of town, that man loves those old horses and takes real good care of them. Sometimes, he just rides one into town and visits around a bit.”

  “That's real nice, the kids would love it.”

  As they moved back to the speedboat, Clay asked Willie if he did any hunting around the area. He told them that he wasn't much of a hunter, but he could show them where to go. “If you have a compass and look for the water tower, you won't get lost.”

  Once the bar-b-que pit and propane bottles were unloaded onto the paddle wheeler, they decided to take a chance and left the anchored boat for just a while. All six of them sat in the speedboat, whizzed across to the willow tree. Mr. Price kept his promise and rode up on the awesome horse. Jacob was much more apprehensive of the animal than Allie, who literally jumped up and down with excitement. The boy wasn't about to let an old girl get the best of him. When Willie brought out the step ladder and lifted first Jacob and then Allie up in front of Mr. Price, the boy's eyes were big and he held on to the saddle horn for dear life. Allie still bounced up and down, until the man said, “Be still, little gal.”

  Penny slipped her hand into Angel's, they laughed at the joy of the children. One tear slid down Penny's cheek, she and her new friend had already had some heart to heart talks about how much they worried that their children would not get to have a safe and happy life. They watched the gentle giant carry the man and two children easily around the close area. It was a picture of peace and simpler times created in the grass that had been greened by the Spring rains and warm nights. Jacob relaxed a bit, looked out at his father and smiled. He la
ughed and said, “Ride 'em cowboy!”.

  Clay eyes were fixed on the sparkle in those amber eyes, until Allie shouted out in her little girl voice, “Look at me, Captain Clay.” He once again, felt that softening of his heart.

  They agreed that Clay, Angel and the kids would go back to the boat, not leave it unguarded any longer. Willie would guide Louis and Penny to some hunting grounds. They all thanked Mr. Price. The kids said their goodbyes to the Clydesdale, who patiently tolerated Allie's leg hugs.

  Back aboard the paddle wheeler, the children played cards on the shady side deck. The cabin doors and windows were open, Clay and Angel sat on stools at the bar.

  “That was nice. The kids loved it. Can you believe what a huge and beautiful animal that horse was?” said Angel.

  Clay covered her slim hand that rested on the bar with his, “Beautiful...” he said, not thinking about the horse. “Angeline, I know that these are strange times and that you don't even really know me, I ….”

  She stopped him, “I do know you, Clay. It is in hard times that people really show their true self. You have been kind and generous. I don't know what Allie and would have done; out there alone in this world. I want to believe that I would have been strong, that we would have survived, but I just don't know if that would be the truth.”

  He looked down and rubbed his thumb softly across her hand, “I would not pressure you, don't expect you to make any promises. I only know that I want you near, I want you safe...I just want you.” he lifted his eyes to hers.

  “Penny said, let nature take it's course. That's a good idea, we have lots of time. Never think that I don't return your feelings. Allie loves you and maybe...” Angel's voice trailed off, as the children came running through the cabin. Clay reluctantly released her hand and as Allie squealed by, he grabbed her up and swung her around.

  He said, to both children, “Come sit over here and tell me what you thought of the giant horse.”

  Angel went to supply room and looked for supper ideas. Later, the whirring of a small engine announced the arrival of Louis and Penny. Willie had shuttled them over in a long flat bottom boat. They proudly displayed two rabbits and a squirrel and Willie gave them a basket of hen eggs, “Lots of chickens around town,” he said.

  Clay showed the young man around the boat and he expressed his admiration of it. “Well, it has taken a bit of a beating since we left Orleans,” said the captain. “I'm pretty proud to have her, though.” After a little while, he said to Willie, “You know, if you wanted to get away from here, travel up river, you would be welcome to ride with us for a while.” His gut told him that this was a good man and no matter what circumstances had befell America, he had a deep respect for those that had served her.

  Willie let his breath out slow, “That is a very nice offer. Believe me, it is real tempting. I have to say no thanks. This is my home, my parents might even by some miracle make it home.” He gave Clay a smile and said, “There's a real pretty girl that I found when I got back, I've known her most all my life. Roots grow real deep sometimes, not easy to pull up.”

  “I understand,” said Clay, “Why don't you come back over in the morning, before we leave. We will cook up some of those eggs and Penny makes some really good biscuits. Have some breakfast with us.”

  The next morning, after the promised breakfast, the Annie Belle pulled away from Boonville. Willie waved from the pier where he had been when they met him. Louis stood at the rail and thought how much he hoped that the nice young man would be safe and survive there. The young soldier who had already in his life, witnessed more things than he ever wanted to see, was having the same thought for the six people that rolled away on the big boat.

  ***

  The newly scavenged bar-b-que pit was a big help. They removed the useless rusted out burner and re-enforced the bottom of the pit. They did have to build small wood fires in it, but they were careful and never left the fire burning after they cooked on it. With the fish cooker, which they had managed to find two more bottles of propane for and the pit, they did no more cooking inside and the cabin stayed cooler. The summer heat was really on them now, so that was important.

  It had been ten days and they had traveled with little trouble. They continued to check abandoned vessels and found fuel enough that they were staying mobile. Two separate days, they had anchored down where the shore was wooded and taken the day to hunt. The two couples had indeed became a good crew, they shared in all the necessary work that had to be done. The women took their turn at guiding the big boat, Angel even joined in on one of the hunts. The men often cooked a meal and all chores from washing clothes to cleaning the decks were shared by everyone.

  When the big wash tubs were not being used for clothes, they would often fill one and let it stew with bleach for a while, so the kids could be bathed. The adults had started to use the tubs, too. The tub sat on the deck and a couple of blankets were strung up for privacy, even though the men could not actually sit in the tub, they could stand and pour the water over them. They had all seen too much dumped and floating in the wide river to really want to dive in and splash around.

  Clay stood in the tub of water, a slight scent of bleach still rose from it and it was full of soap from the kid's bath. As he poured the water over him from a big saucepan that the women had dedicated to the tub, he thought, I don't care about following Jacob and Allie's bath, still rather have this than the river. He didn't know why he felt that way, for someone that loved the river, just as his father had, he just had this contrary aversion these days to being “in” the river.

  Their travel in the very early morning strategy had taken them through Kansas City, once again with no real trouble. This puzzled him some. They had all talked the evening before, about the luck of their travels the previous nearly two weeks.

  Louis said, “When you think about it, it's been a month and a half since the disaster happened. We know that fuel is getting scarce. It wouldn't be very smart to be sitting on the river, just waiting for someone to come by that might have something that you could steal. Food has got to be ruined or looted. I believe a lot of people have left the cities or maybe they have gotten some aid from the military.”

  “If you didn't have some kind of food stored up, I don't how you could be surviving. There's no safe water, people are surely sick or worse,” said Angel. “Those people that we have met, who are making it, they were in small communities and they had made some plans ahead for dealing with a devastating event.”

  Penny joined in, “You can bet on one thing, the bad and desperate people will find each other. Think how rough some parts of Orleans were before any disasters had occurred. I know there are gangs running wild and no law to stop them on the land. I think it is a very dangerous place to be right now, especially the cities.”

  Clay said, “We all agree on that. Fortunately, Dan's farm is not in the city and he's been preparing for a long time. If we can make it there, I believe that we can all work together and survive this, no matter how long it lasts.”

  The Annie Belle pushed on up river, with it's six residents. They were perhaps less than two hundred and fifty miles of reaching safe haven.

  Chapter Eight

  No Safe Passage

  The river took it's time, twisted around a long curve and the paddle wheeler followed along, Clay at the helm. Around the bend he spotted an end to their luck, drawing ever closer into view. He blew the big horn, Louis, Penny and Angel all came up top and crowded into the small control hut.

  Angel looked at the scene in front of them, “We can't get through there, can we?” she asked.

  Louis looked out and said, “Oh, s—t, I think we've got big trouble.”

  It could have been in a storm, but probably was from just free floating; a long cargo barge had drifted sideways and wedged between the western shoreline and a narrow sandbar in the middle of the river. It was damming up half the waterway, some water rushed over the top between it's load. The cargo had been various lengths
of lumber, long thick poles and re-bar steel. A lot of the load had shifted and let go. Unfortunately, not all of it just floated away, a huge log jam of tangled lumber, poles and round sticks of steel blocked the majority of the rest of the river width. There was no place clear enough to allow the big paddle wheeler to move through.

  Penny said, “What are we going to do? There's no passage.”

  Clay steered the Annie over to the western side of the river, well back from the stranded barge. Because the water was partially blocked and narrowed down, it was running rapid and rough. “Let's get the boat anchored down. Louis and I will take an extra safety line to the shore and tie it off, that barge is stirring the water up pretty good. Then, we will go out to the jam and see if we can tell what we are really looking at.”

  They tied a line from the paddle wheeler to a large tree on the shoreline and the women watched the speedboat make it's way towards the jumble of wreckage in the river. The boat bounced and bumped over the roiling waves that the jam produced. The blockage had not quite extended to the eastern shore, they squeezed the boat through and idled along the top side of the jam.

  Clay said, “Obviously, some of the poles and steel have embedded into the bottom. If we pushed and pulled, some of it might let go or the whole mess might go barreling down river. Hard to tell. I think the Annie will be safe, the jam would move rapidly enough down this side of the river if freed. I hate to say it, but I am going to have to go underwater, try to get a look. If we could tie off to something underneath there and pull up river, we might break it.”

  “Underwater! Boss, I don't know about that. How deep do you think it is here? You wouldn't be able to see a thing in this muddy water. Couldn't we just start pulling out piece by piece, hope for it to release,” said Louis with concern.