back you’ll hear me whistling.”
Adrian took off, collecting Bear outside the camp. He carried his M4 and went looking for wild hogs. Feral hogs had become a problem in Texas even before the grid dropped, reaching a critical mass of four-million with their population doubling every two years, in spite of intense hunting pressure. With few humans to restrict them in any way, the wild hog population had grown to numbers making them an important part of the food chain—hogs had become to the grid survivors in East Texas what the buffalo had been to the Plains Indians. Adrian was now traveling through heavily populated hog territory. With Bear to sniff them out, it didn’t take long to find some.
Adrian shot two of the smaller hogs—young ones were better eating; easier to carry, clean, and cook; and there wouldn’t be much, if any, waste. Seventeen people and a wolf could put a quick end to two young hogs. Adrian field dressed them, then tossed the internal organs to Bear while he tied the pig’s feet together and slung them over his neck like a bandolier.
When he got close to the camp, he could hear the girls; they were laughing, giggling and apparently having a great time on their day off. He sat down to wait; there was still plenty of day left, and if they needed a day of fun, as Racy suggested, then he didn’t want to put a damper on it or inhibit them with his presence. After three hours, they seemed to have settled. Adrian began walking towards them, whistling loudly.
The girls all looked up at him as he came into the camp. They did look more relaxed than they had before. Adrian gave them a big smile as he stood there with the two dead and gutted pigs hanging from his shoulders.
Racy said, “What’s wrong with your face? Stop that!”
Rita spoke up, “He did that to us too—he thinks he’s smiling.”
All the girls started laughing and making strange faces at Adrian. Adrian started laughing, as much at himself as at the girl’s antics.
When they finally settled down, he lifted the pigs off his shoulder. “I brought a couple of small pigs to cook, we’ll eat fresh, hot, roasted pork tonight. We’ll need two decent-sized fires, four forked sticks, and two long sticks for spits.”
Lila asked Adrian, “Could you please cut their heads off before you cook them?”
“Sure thing Lila, sure thing.”
That evening, after everyone had eaten their fill of the delicious meat, Adrian studied the girls. They were full, warm, and comfortable. They seemed to be at ease, he didn’t see nearly as much signs of tension among them as before. He had noticed earlier that the girls seemed fascinated by his every move, even if it was just to scratch an itch, he invariably found over a dozen sets of eyes watching him. For a while it made him self-conscious, but after some thought he realized it was natural and tried to give it no more mind. They were wary of him because of the way men had treated them in the past.
“Ladies”, he announced, “I think we’ll stay here another day, maybe even two. Tomorrow you can relax some more and enjoy our fine wild campsite. At noon, though, we’re going to start training on guns and tactics. That means you’ll learn how to march in step, how to move on patrol, how to take cover, and how to advance and cover. Eventually we’ll get into ambush techniques, how to set them up and how to get out of them. We’ll stop frequently on the way to practice. By the time we get to Corpus, you ladies will be as well-trained as any group of soldiers ever were. How does that sound?”
Racy replied, “Sounds great. It’ll take us a while to get used to the idea, but I love it.” With that endorsement, Adrian saw that the rest of the girls smiled. Whatever Racy thinks is a good idea, the rest think is a good idea. They’re so used to her being in charge that they have complete faith in her. She’ll be the key to their survival. “Race, I need you and two more girls to take turns
Adrian took off, collecting Bear outside the camp. He carried his M4 and went looking for wild hogs. Feral hogs had become a problem in Texas even before the grid dropped, reaching a critical mass of four-million with their population doubling every two years, in spite of intense hunting pressure. With few humans to restrict them in any way, the wild hog population had grown to numbers making them an important part of the food chain—hogs had become to the grid survivors in East Texas what the buffalo had been to the Plains Indians. Adrian was now traveling through heavily populated hog territory. With Bear to sniff them out, it didn’t take long to find some.
Adrian shot two of the smaller hogs—young ones were better eating; easier to carry, clean, and cook; and there wouldn’t be much, if any, waste. Seventeen people and a wolf could put a quick end to two young hogs. Adrian field dressed them, then tossed the internal organs to Bear while he tied the pig’s feet together and slung them over his neck like a bandolier.
When he got close to the camp, he could hear the girls; they were laughing, giggling and apparently having a great time on their day off. He sat down to wait; there was still plenty of day left, and if they needed a day of fun, as Racy suggested, then he didn’t want to put a damper on it or inhibit them with his presence. After three hours, they seemed to have settled. Adrian began walking towards them, whistling loudly.
The girls all looked up at him as he came into the camp. They did look more relaxed than they had before. Adrian gave them a big smile as he stood there with the two dead and gutted pigs hanging from his shoulders.
Racy said, “What’s wrong with your face? Stop that!”
Rita spoke up, “He did that to us too—he thinks he’s smiling.”
All the girls started laughing and making strange faces at Adrian. Adrian started laughing, as much at himself as at the girl’s antics.
When they finally settled down, he lifted the pigs off his shoulder. “I brought a couple of small pigs to cook, we’ll eat fresh, hot, roasted pork tonight. We’ll need two decent-sized fires, four forked sticks, and two long sticks for spits.”
Lila asked Adrian, “Could you please cut their heads off before you cook them?”
“Sure thing Lila, sure thing.”
That evening, after everyone had eaten their fill of the delicious meat, Adrian studied the girls. They were full, warm, and comfortable. They seemed to be at ease, he didn’t see nearly as much signs of tension among them as before. He had noticed earlier that the girls seemed fascinated by his every move, even if it was just to scratch an itch, he invariably found over a dozen sets of eyes watching him. For a while it made him self-conscious, but after some thought he realized it was natural and tried to give it no more mind. They were wary of him because of the way men had treated them in the past.
“Ladies”, he announced, “I think we’ll stay here another day, maybe even two. Tomorrow you can relax some more and enjoy our fine wild campsite. At noon, though, we’re going to start training on guns and tactics. That means you’ll learn how to march in step, how to move on patrol, how to take cover, and how to advance and cover. Eventually we’ll get into ambush techniques, how to set them up and how to get out of them. We’ll stop frequently on the way to practice. By the time we get to Corpus, you ladies will be as well-trained as any group of soldiers ever were. How does that sound?”
Racy replied, “Sounds great. It’ll take us a while to get used to the idea, but I love it.” With that endorsement, Adrian saw that the rest of the girls smiled. Whatever Racy thinks is a good idea, the rest think is a good idea. They’re so used to her being in charge that they have complete faith in her. She’ll be the key to their survival. “Race, I need you and two more girls to take turns
Similar Books
