The Dancing Man, Redemption and Shifters by D.A. Sanford - HTML preview

1. The start

The drones over our major population areas flew at night for months. Even though the public outcry was great, the government told the people that there was nothing to worry about.

I have lived by the saying that “It’s only paranoia until you are proven right.”

I believe that this was to lull us into disregarding them. After months of the night time flights, people got used to them. One night near the holiday, explosions were heard.

First the power grid was taken down, then the transportation infrastructure.

You see, the reason our government played down the drones was because they had given away so much of the military supplies that we got down to only two to three weeks of supplies if we went to war. It was always thought by the public, that we would put our nation’s industry on a war footing. We could win!

No power, no industry. No roads, no transporting those weapons.

The other thing those drones delivered was biological weapons. People started to get sore throats which developed into high fevers and convulsions. Death was a short time later. Soon, those major populated areas were decimated. All life was dead.

My house is among a group of hillside homes. I get, what others call, crazy ideas. When I was remodeling my two back rooms, I had to tear out the floor, it was an unheated crawl space, The dirt was almost fine. I dug some of it and found that it went deep.

Quite a few pallets of cinder blocks and cement, I had a room that was below the cellar floor. It was sealed off. The vent looked like a floor drain but went through a set of filters to filter out the basement smell.

When the drone thing started to happen, I moved myself down there but installed a better filter. Food, beer and solar power, I locked myself in and watched the world fall apart. I yelled at the news until the stations went off the air one by one.

I had a few cameras but I turned them off after seeing my neighbors fleeing. I could only hope they make it. All I know is that when I emerge, I will, respectfully, hell no, I’m going to take everything I can use.

There is a rental place that has a box truck that I had rented. I made a duplicate key for it. Just in case of this very thing. I have a cabin deep in the woods in another state. All I had to do is wait.

Finally, after two weeks, I see the first signs of life. A cat coming down the road with a rabbit in its mouth. It disappeared into the brush across the road. I wait until the next day then I emerge. Taking a deep breath and holding it, I don’t drop. So far so good.

Now, in my garage, is the first part of my escape. I have an electric bike. Light weight and quiet. It’s what you need when you are ready to liberate a box truck. Again, caution is a life saver. I stop at a point where I can see the truck but also the larger area.

It is said that patience is a virtue. That is the first rule of survival. Today’s world it is a necessity. I watch and much to my surprise, after an hour of watching, a lone person is approaching the truck. I look through my binoculars and see that it is one of my neighbors that left. I know where he is going.

My house, my survival things. Like I said, I went into my underground room as it started to become intense. To someone watching me, it would appear that I must be dead. Now my stuff was fair game. I raced home.

He was going through the houses, filling up the truck. Box after box but I could not see what was in the boxes. House after house, box after box until he came to my house. I heard the glass in the front door break.

The thing he may or may not have known is that I do have weapons. Pistols, rifles and knives.

Second rule is do not assume anything. Expect everything to go wrong and plan accordingly. He assumed that I was dead. He, not me, is now dead in my house.

Dead or alive, a fool is a fool. I looked in those boxes. Jewelry, small appliances, fur coats and money. Fool. It looked like it was all the items that usually could be pawned or sold out the back of the truck.

There was not much I would expect to use so I dump each box out. I do keep the fur coats. Winter can be cold. Done, there was only a box or two of things I kept. The thing that bothers me is that there was no food.

I went through the houses and loaded almost a third of the truck with canned and dried goods. Camping gear, blankets, towels, soap, even toilet paper. The biggest bounty is all the medicines, antibiotics and yes the harder drugs like oxycodone. Those are for trading.

Again, he was a fool. These items are the currency of this new world. I do believe that he was going to go to a bank and load up the money. Money is not even good to wipe your butt. Too stiff.

His house was the last on this dead end street. I made sure that I was cautious.

Knowing that he was single, caution is still advised. Traps. There was none. I take it back, he is not a fool, he is a verified idiot.

There in his house is little food. It is full of items that are “new in box.” He had to be a fence for stolen goods. There were always after dark deliveries. This explains what he was taking.

With all these things that he most likely bought for pennies on the dollar, this was his on line market life. When everything collapsed, he must have lost his mind. All this stuff and not worth a thing anymore. That would push him over the edge.

He did have some things that I wanted. The best things he had was a box of new battery powered can openers that cut the edge of the can not the top. I always hated the ones that opened the top. I took them.

Now the truck is loaded with the correct items that I have . I have the ten jerrycans of fuel and a planned route of back roads to my cabin. Of course, I have my travel insurance. An AK with enough rounds to take on a small army and my side arm. A 357

magnum python.

The route is longer than the straight route.

Third rule. When going to your safe place, your hide, do not take the direct route. Go the longer route. That way you can see if anyone is following you. No one was but by the time I came close to the cabin. I stopped and went on foot. There may be people there.

There was.

Surprise, surprise. I knew the person, I will qualify that. She lived on the same street and we would nod as we passed.

“What the hell are you doing here.” I yelled while pointing my AK at her. She froze in place and I could swear that there was a urine smell in the air.

I walk up to her.

“I was told by Susan of this cabin. We thought you left or died. She went to her parents in the Midwest. Please don’t kill me.”

“You need to step away from the cabin. Is there anyone in the cabin? If there is, you need to come out!”

She tells me that only her two year old granddaughter was in there. “She is taking a nap.”

“You go in first and I will follow. If what you say is true and you are just interested in living, we can work this out. I will not force you out. If you are lying, all bets are off.”

She goes in and I follow quietly. She told the truth. Only a granddaughter. As she checks the child. I swap the clip with an empty. When she closes the door, I tell her that we will go out to the porch. She sits in one of the chairs. I sit next to her and set the AK

down in between us.

“You have told me the truth. I am not a bastard so I will not throw you out. This will be strictly a mutual cooperation. I am not interested in any sexual relation. We both will be grumpy at times. We will not take it to the personal level. I cook, you cook. We can work out a schedule. House work the same. Can you live with this?”

She says that she can. “Do you hunt? I tried but I shot a tree and some dirt. We are down to a few days’ food. I have not had anything since the day before yesterday so Julie can have something to eat.”

She hasn’t even looked at the AK so I now feel that I can trust her, somewhat.

“I have a truck that I need to get. I have more than enough canned and dry to last the three of us a year or a little more. I hunt and we will scavenge for more food. By the way. We only waved at each other. What is your name? Mines Lenny.”

“Jackie is my name.”

“”Jackie, I’m going to get the truck.” Something hits me.

Forth rule. Observe your surroundings for something out of place.

“How did you get here?” I pick up the AK. “Where is your car?”

She now shows some panic. I slap a full clip in and get up. I’m mad. A child is involved.

“Who the hell is driving that car and where are they?” I’m not happy

“I would shoot you right now but that child is involved. Let me guess, a boyfriend. You do know that I can’t throw you out. I would have to look over my shoulder.”

I now have to check the truck. “You walk ahead of me. Don’t try anything. Who is driving the car?” I still get no answer.

We reach the truck and I see the car driving up. I pop a round through the passenger side front tire. The car comes to a halt.

“Get out of the fucking car right now or I’ll kill you in it.” I yell. Then I tell Jackie to walk to the person and get them out. “Be careful, I don’t want to kill the three of you.”

She is now balling as she walks over to the driver’s side and I see her daughter get out.

I am now livid and yell, “YOU FUCKEN RISKED YOUR LIVES WITH YOUR SILENCE.

WHY? The both of you get up here now!”:

They are clinging to each other and come up here. I look at Jackie, “You were thinking that I would rape the both of you? What the fuck. Did I not tell you that I was not interested in a sextual relation? You jeopardized your lives for something I told you would not happen.”

Neither are in any condition to answer.

“Both of you, in front of the truck and walk slowly. I will be following you.”

We get to the cabin. The child is on the porch and is crying.

I yell at them both, “See what you have caused. If you had told me that your daughter was in the car, there would not have been any problem but you thought I was a sex maniac. Get up there and take care of the child. Stay inside until I call you. Jackie, we need to talk.”

We again sit. Now the AK sits on my lap, loaded. I am just looking at her. I am not talking. Neither is she so “I told you didn’t I. I very well could have shot through the window and killed the driver. What did I shoot?”

“The tire.”

“Back at my house, Our neighbor broke into my house to take my things. He is dead in that house. I went against a rule that says don’t shoot at someone unless you intend to kill. I shot a tire. You broke the little trust we built. Know this, I would not and will not touch anyone of you.”

I get up and go to the truck. I get a box of food and put it on the porch.

“You should be able to fix that tire. Here is a box of food. You are welcome to the cabin.

I’m leaving.”

Before they could say anything, I turn around and drive off.

I stop at the car and change their tire. Wanting to see, I park there and make my way back to where I can see the cabin but they cannot see me. I can see the daughter and mother crying and yelling at each other. I do not know what they are saying but I feel that it is about me leaving.

I go back to my truck. I know of a camp ground not far from here. I will camp for a few days. Give them time to stew.

Once again, I drive up to the cabin and get out. I just stand there as the three come out.

“Jackie, have you seen what you not telling me about your daughter would cost you? I have come back because this is my cabin. Tell me why I should let you stay here with me. I fixed your car. You have the ability to leave. Now I will tell you that if you offer yourselves, you will hit the road at gun point.”

As they are trying to figure out what to say, the two year old comes out and walks up to me. She blows me out of the water when she asks.

“You’re the man who brought us food. Did you bring more?” She looks to the porch where her mother and grandmother and makes her conclusion.

“You must be my grandpa. Please stay with us. I never had a grandpa. Please stay.”

I pick her up. “How did you guess that I am your grandpa?”

“You came to give us food and then went to find more. My daddy died before I was born so you must be my grandpa.”

Shooting to two on the porch a stern look, “Did your mom or grandma tell you that?”

“Nope” She said proudly. “Only my grandpa would bring us food and go hunt for more.”

Then she hugs me.

“You caught me, I’m your grandpa. Let me show you what I have found. Why don’t you go get mom and grandma to help bring in all I found.”

She does and we bring in box after box of food, blankets but the biggest hit is the soap and toilet paper. It appears that these were forgotten items. There is a large tub in the cabin so they started to heat water.

“You never walked the cabin, did you.”

I point to the obvious. The wall switch. “Where there is a switch, there must be electricity. There is a water pump and water heater. I go outside and open the door under the cabin. There is the generator. Pulling the cord a few times, it starts up.

“In a half hour we will have hot water. We use the generator only for the wash, bath and lights. It is shut off before bed. Well water is pumped into a 40 gallon tank in the attic.

Laundry is the old fashion way but I see you have found the wash tub.”

Jackie comes out, clean and thanks me for making her granddaughter happy. “I am so sorry that I deceived you. You were right, I did not know how to trust. Will you please stay and be her grandpa?”

“She has already sunk her hooks into me but you need to explain that I need to go out to forage for food. Also, that we no longer sleep together. Make up a story then make sure you tell me.”

I was thrown when she asked me, “I know you said that you did not want to talk about sex but.”

Stopping her there.

“I’m not going to go into why but I have been celibate for these past twenty years by my choice. I have not gone back on that and sleeping together is out of the question. Even in the same room and in different beds. Just me. There are only two bedrooms here so I will take the recliner. Tell Julie that I have a back that hurts if I sleep in a bed so I sleep in the chair.”

Jackie does not press it. I knew only that back before this happened, she was alone in her house. As I have done, I will not ask her why either.

Clean, well fed, Julie went to bed early. I took the opportunity to sit with the two. We need to have this talk. There needs to be rules and have the same story for the sake of that child.

2. Reality is kill to eat, kill to protect

“There is going to be trouble. This place was chosen, by me, only because it is so far off the maps that we should not be found, but the both of you must be able to shoot to defend this property. Before the stations went off the air, this die off had spread to the world but people will group. Gangs will start. You will need to kill intruders”

I could tell that it hit them that they may have to kill humans to protect. So, I have to drive it home.

“I see that you are very uncomfortable with that. Cold hard fact, if we are attacked and I fall, you three will become play toys for those gangs. Yes I said you three. There is no law anymore. No morals . Even in the old world, child molestation happened, often, much to our shame. Are your ready to see that?”

That hit home.

Jackie tells me that it was in the back of her mind. “That is the reason we ran early to here. I thought that we would escape. You are right, they may find this place. If I knew about this place, then everyone on the road knew. Just for the record, we knew that you did something to your house. All that dirt you hauled out. That new garden.”

She hesitates, then draws a deep shuttering breath and looks at Kathy.

“We have to kill if it happens.”

I tell both that humanity has now boiled down to two groups. The hunted and the hunters. The hunted are those who still think that the laws protect them.

“We passed gun law after gun law each time there was a major shooting. Murder did not stop just because of the law. Laws are for the law abiding and criminals do not follow the laws. We start tomorrow morning. We will tell Julie that you are being taught to hunt.”

They both agree. The hard part is that we need to tell her that anyone comes here, hide, even if you think you know them. She will need to tell us then hide. I will make a special place for her. No one will find her.

I find that both women are quick learners. They now can hit what they aim at.. Now for the big test. I make a scare crow. For the first time, in a long time, I pray to God that they never have to, but I know better. When we run out of resources in this area, we may have to leave.

Now that they know how to shoot, it is time for the real thing. I take Jackie out for a hunt.

It was not too long that we come across what has to be an escaped pig. Between smoking, drying, canning and fresh meat, this one will feed us for a while. I tell her that she is the one to take the shot.

She is looking at it through her scope, she is hesitant. This is it. The make or break point.

I tell her, “That is the person who wants Julie.”

She pulls the trigger. We have bacon. She is proud of herself. We walk to it and it was a clean neck spine shot. Jackie looks at it and cries. I kneel down and have her do the same. I put my hand on the pig.

“Thank you for your sacrifice. Know this, your sacrifice will allow us to feed our granddaughter for months. We thank God for you. God bless you in your next life.”

She is now realizing what she really has done. She also puts her hand on it and just says. “I’m sorry but thank you.”

Now the part that she does not like but she does help me. Gutting the pig. I am not one who likes the innards. I leave that all for the animals. I had brought a canvas tarp so we both dragged it back. I hung it up and finished letting it bleed out as I cut it down to fatback, ribs and such. I put the fatback directly in the smoker but the ribs went on the BBQ. We ate good.

Next hunt will be Kathy.

Once she was told of the prayer we said over the kill, Kathy did not hesitate. She shot two rabbits and a wild turkey. It was more of a revelation to her. Knowing that she could kill something to survive was a necessity of today’s world. Can’t drive to the supermarket for meat. You don’t eat without killing.

I think that the thanking it for its sacrifice puts it into prospective.

A once abhorrent prospect for them has now become a source of pride. They learned the meat does not come from a supermarket. It comes from hunting and butchering your kill. There is a simple thing. Vegetables that you grow always taste the best. Fresh is the best. These women now realize that the meat that has sat in the market for weeks were tasteless compared to what you caught yourself.

I have to find a good stream. Fresh fish will be a treat.

There is something to be said to being self sufficient. No money, no problem. As long as you have the abilities and the knowledge, you will survive. Scavenge, it is no longer theft unless it means killing innocents.

Do that and when, not if, you get caught. You will be executed. No mercy, no fancy lawyer, no appeal, hopefully a quick shot, a quick death. I would imagine that some people will not be so merciful.

I won’t

We continue to take what we will need to survive but we will not steal from others. Luck or unlucky, there is no one in our area.