Finding just who is my family by D.A.Sanford - HTML preview

I was not as secretive as I thought

We got settled into a routine. Always on guard but also relaxed, I knew that I was being as secretive as I could. Having the modules delivered, all those materials that I could not bring in myself and such. It was ignorant of me to believe that I was totally isolated.

It was a week after we got here when I saw a couple with their three children just standing at the gate. The man was calling out to us.

“We are unarmed. Can we please talk?”

The man was the one that hauled in the rooms for me. I did not even need to ask what did he want. I knew, they wanted what we have, a safe place. Unlike what I had expected, an assault, they were peacefully standing there. Very nervous as to their reception but I could see desperation in the parent’s eyes.

I look at Marie and she nods.

“I’m going to open the gate but the children must enter first. Then you two. First I need all of you to step back away from the fence door. I will let each of you in one by one. All will be patted down. The boy first and I will pat him down. Then the two girls, Marie will frisk them. She will then do the same for your female. You will be the last,”

They comply and there are no weapons on them. Not even a knife. That is a good sign.

“I know why you are here. Weren’t you the one that delivered the modules?”

He answers that he was. “The fighting is starting to get intense. More and more countries are fighting and it is not just on one continent. Everyone is invading each other. I feared for my family. I took a chance that maybe you weren’t here. There is no other place that I could think of. Would you please at least let my wife and children stay? I’ll leave if necessary.”

I need to take charge. Firm but generous to a point.

“I am in charge here and Marie is my second. You did not walk here. Where is your vehicle? I hope you did not leave it on the road.”

He tells me that he found the hidden gate and opened it, drove in and closed it. The car is parked just after it. They walked here from there. I tell him that we will go and bring it up here.

“Marie, fix something for them to eat while I walk with him to bring up the car. You are to keep your side arm on you at all times. Talk to the wife then when we get back, you and I will compare what we know.”

She and I had talked about just this situation. How we are approached is how we react but, depending of gut feelings, they live or die but living they can stay. Hostile will just die. They will not be allowed to carry for a while.

As we are walking, he tells me that his name is Josh. They packed everything they could into the back of his work van. They planned that if they could not stay, they would need survival items. He told me that they did have two side arms and a hunting rifle in the van.

When we came near, I had him give me the keys. I needed to verify that there isn’t something hazardous to my life in there. Upon looking there were the firearms he stated but the remainder were items needed to live. I have him drive up after I put the weapons out of his reach. I have him tell me about why he thought I would allow him to stay here.

“With the number of rooms you had delivered and the remote area, I figured that you were making a safe spot to ride this out. I tried doing the same but there was not enough time. My modules will not be ready until next month.”

He has a forced sad chuckle. Too little too late. I am starting to get a decent feeling that they will be no trouble and well we do have the room. I’m going to talk with Marie but I think, for now, we will let them stay. There will be rules that they will need to live with.

I have him park in the wooded area that I created if the need to have driven here rather than the helicopter arose. I have here a few of those four seated work ATV’s. We will use those when needed.

After we return, we four adults talk while I let their children watch something on DVD. I like the cartoons as well as other videos that even children like to watch.

“Let’s start here. I know you but Josh, introduce your wife for now.”

He tells me that her name is Sharon. The children are Bobby, Barbra and Gwen.

“You have been truthful, so far, so we will let you stay if you can abide by our rules. Our relationship is not open. Yours will be also if we allow anyone else in. Courtesy, keep your area clean and clean up any mess you make. Lastly, hostility is met with hostility. You came here open handed, other surely will not. This compound will be defended by all four of us. Anyone hostile will be killed, not driven off. Can you abide with these rules? One extra thing, everyone works. Those children will have chores.”

We are told that those rules are acceptable.

Now for the hard news. I explain that this was going to be sanctuary for some of my relatives. I told them that they all refused but when it started, they called be when we first arrived here.

“I broke the phone but it still worries me. They may know where or have a suspicion as to where this is. Even under normal conditions, they were opulent and yes greedy. I liked them because they did not bother me for my views.”

I hesitate and swallow as I tell them, “That gate is locked and must be kept locked at all times. If they show up they will be demanding and yes hostile. Any that show up here, I will say that they fall into the category of people that will not be allowed to leave. They will not be allowed to stay so they will not be allowed to live.“

That struck home. If I was willing to state that those who I invited to come here now would not be allowed to live if they showed up here says a lot to them. Marie does say that she knows of a few of her relatives that are the same.

Josh is thinking and then he tells us that he spoke to some of the delivery people that came here and they said that they would like this place for theirs if the shit went down. That tells me that those are an immediate threat.

I tell them that the platform to get onto the tank garden needs to be manned. I go through a door and come back with an ammo box then a few AK47’s. The ammo box had the preloaded drums.

“Hostility is fatally met. Their fatality not ours. I now feel as if someone is watching us from above.”

I hand Josh one and a drum. A specific one that was on the top. He installed the drum then set it down.

“Josh, let me see that AK.” He hands it to me and I point it at the ceiling, then pull the trigger. Nothing. I pull the drum and show him.

“That was your last test. This drum has dummy rounds in it. If you had aimed it at us and pulled the trigger, you would have been dead but you put it down. You and yours can stay. I hand him the AK and tell him to choose a drum but look at the rounds before you load it.”

Sharon shivers then says that they need to talk to their children about gun safety. They are not my kids so I call them out. I grab the assault rifle and have all come outside. I aim at a small tree and fire the hundred rounds bringing down the tree.

“This is not a toy. Do not touch any weapon but you will be shown gun safety by your father. Sharon please come here.”

I show her how to load, aim and fire. With another drum, I have her quickly pull the trigger then let up. She does and a spirt of rounds are fired. Now I have her squeeze and hold. The remainder fire off.

“Sorry Josh, I needed to see how she would react. Now you Marie.”

She is a little more hesitant but repeats the same as Sharon.

“That’s it for today but again children these are not to be handled by you but if there is a battle, Bobby, your job will be to take charge and bring your sisters to the lower basement and stay there until we come to get you. Understand?”

As we are getting ready to go in, several shots ring out from the woods. I have the AK, slap a new drum in it and yell for them to get in the house. Aiming at the area the shots came from, I sweep the area. Josh comes out with the other and together we sweep a good arc then stop.

No more shots, we find the propane guy dead. His hunting rifle next to him. He probably thought that our firing was directed at him so he fired back. But he did approach us armed and in the woods. We each have new drums and go looking.

The gate was crashed. He parked not much further and crept up to us. It looks like he was alone because only the drivers seat was empty. The rest of the interior was packed with the essentials. All the beer and hard liquor that could be fitted in. I pop the trunk and find his gold and silver. No real food.

I have Josh drive it up and park it.

The other’s come out and we tell them that he was alone but I now needed to tell them that there were others that delivered here. “He crashed the gate so we need to fix that now. Josh tells me that the roadside was the giveaway.

“Your delivery instructions were to turn at the boulder on to the logging trail. We need to get rid of the boulder.”

I got a better idea. “Just down the road is that deep ravine. Why don’t I take my loader and we move it to that area. Place it and dig up the roadside to look like it. Then we drop some brush at the roadside blocking our road.”

He likes that idea. It is strange how fate works. We moved the rock and made that turnoff. At our road, we were just finishing when we heard a very loud sound of a crash. Going back, we can see that we needed to fix the entrance. There at the bottom of the ravine was a mangled car. We went down to see and the driver was dead. The passenger was still alive but he was fumbling around. He just could not reach that pistol he was fumbling for. I shot him.

“I don’t want to fix the roadside. They will see the ravine and start to look around. If that was a family like yours. This will serve as a warning without the need to post. Let’s go home and discuss this.”

Back at the home, we sit with all, including the children, and tell them of the crash.

“My worry is that it could be friendly people. I would not want to find a family at the bottom.”

Marie says something that makes sense.

“Why not use the loader to pull down some of the dead trees in both directions, including the ones roadside at our entrance. Storms come through and trees fall, with no road crews to clear them, people would have to clear them or choose an alternate route around. We will hear the saws clearing the road. We would be able to creep up and see who it is and act accordingly.”

“She is absolutely right.” I comment “Someone intent at getting to us would cut the trees up enough to get around. Josh, we need to go back to the road.”

It took a few days but there are now six dead ones down in both directions.