Chapter 7The Home Front - Friday, June 15th
As Clayton and his two companions were waiting for darkness to arrive so they could descend into the N.O.C., Lori Collier was sitting in her darkening kitchen, wondering what had become of her husband. It had been nine days since the war had started. If you could really call it a war. It had been a surprise. It had been fast, and it had been a quick victory for The Regime. Led by one Richard Flaherty. A crazy man that had been causing trouble in the country for several months now. Lori didn’t really know a lot, but she had been talking to her neighbors and they had discussed what they did know, and it wasn’t good. They had heard that Flaherty, now referred to as The Boss, had his people infiltrate the military and at a pre-planned time, had detonated several nuclear bombs in several large cities throughout the United States. Washington DC for sure. It was reported to be a smoking pile of ash now. New York, Los Angeles, Dallas and Atlanta had been mentioned in the conversations, but no one knew for sure.
The power had been out since the attack and phones weren’t working. Army convoys had been driving up and down Rt 50, but none of them had come down their road. It looked like a lot of the activity was coming from and going to Mt Weather, but she couldn’t be sure. She and the kids had stayed in the farmhouse. Not venturing into town or trying to go anyplace else. The small, portable radio had offered no new clues until it had died a slow death. Lori was saving her spare batteries for now, but she would put some in the radio once a day and scan through the band to see if anyone was transmitting. So far, it had been nothing but static.
Clayton was supposed to be home a week ago. When that didn’t happen, she feared the worst, but had a strong feeling that he was ok, and somehow, was making his way home. She couldn’t explain the feeling, but she didn’t question it.
For now, they had a good amount of food. They always kept a full pantry, canning and drying lots of the food they grew and harvested throughout the year and this year’s garden was already growing and thriving. They had already started expanding the large plot they used to grow every manner of vegetable.
They even had a small shed out behind the house that had two large solar panels which led to a solar charger and a small battery bank. The power from the panels kept a small chest freezer where they have quite a few pounds of meat being preserved. The power also ran their water pump, so they still had running water for now.
Britney and Shane were helping with all that needed to be done each day. They had gathered and loaded all the hunting rifles and kept them in a handy place, but so far no one had bothered them.
The back door swung open, and Shane walked into the kitchen. Shane favored his mother in looks, with a dark auburn head of hair, and light blue eyes. There was still a sprinkle of freckles across the bridge of his nose that gave his newly adult face a hint of lingering childhood. He had a shotgun slung over his shoulder. “I just walked the perimeter of the property. All is well at the Collier Homestead,” he reported to his mother.
“Great. Did you see anyone over at the Miller place?” She asked. The Millers were their closest neighbor, but they hadn’t seen any of them around since the bombs dropped.
“No. It’s still all quiet over there. I wonder what happened to them.” Shane answered as he placed the shotgun in the gun rack mounted in the hallway just off of the kitchen.
“Where’s Britney?” Lori wondered.
“She was working in the garden. She should be coming in in a few minutes.” Just as he finished the sentence, the kitchen door opened and in walked the 20-year-old firstborn. Her brownish red hair was straight and fell to just over her shoulders. Her eyes tended to be more grey, like her father’s. She had a slim, athletic figure. She wore a t-shirt and longish cargo shorts that had many smudges of garden dirt on them. She carried a basket full of lettuce and spinach.
“The lettuce is getting ready to bolt, so we need to eat like rabbits for a while,” she said. She dumped the greens into a large colander and placed them in the sink. Running some water over them to rinse off the garden dirt.
The three family members sat around in the kitchen, preparing a small meal of canned meat, canned green beans and a lettuce and spinach salad.
“Do you think Dad will come home?” Britney asked her mother.
“If I know your father, that is exactly what he is striving to do right now.” Lori started. “He was pretty far away when all this happened, and it doesn’t look like traveling the roads is very safe right now. I wouldn’t be surprised if he walked all the way home, using that trail he loves so much. He was near its terminus down there in Georgia and as you both know, it runs right along that ridge that you see every time you walk out the front door.” Lori said, not knowing that she had just hit the nail directly on the head.
The Collier family, minus one, prepared for bed. They had a good supply of candles, so they each took one to their perspective rooms. As they tucked themselves into their comfortable beds, Clayton was doing the same thing in Birch Cabin at the N.O.C. All was well for now.