wound showed it was not very serious, just a small hole through the meat above the collar bone.
“Who shot him,” Sam asked as the man paced nervously just outside the vans open side door.
“Some little boy, he waved us down about twenty miles back and as soon as we opened the door to let him in he pulled out a pistol and fired! I couldn’t believe it!” the man threw up his arms in disgust. “I guess he was going to try to rob us, but he couldn’t have been more than 10!”
“You are lucky, he probably wasn’t alone. But don’t worry about your brother, mom will take good care of him, she was quite a nurse before all this.
“Thank you for stopping! I don’t know what I would have done… I am Paul and my Brother is Named Ken.
“I’m Sam and her name is Carol, where are you headed?”
“We didn’t know. I only just found him a few days ago. I’ve spent the last several weeks working my way up here after the Inverness station fell. My brother is…was a ranger for the division of forestry and has been living in a cabin just north of Pensacola, we had been staying in touch by Ham radio. But then we were over run and I barely got out of there. We were headed towards Jacksonville when all this happened…” he waved a hand to indicate the van.
“Jacksonville is gone, the radio referred to it as a city of the dead before the radios went dead.” I told him about the news I had heard from the radio and mom, “as far as I know, there are no safe settlements left.”
He looked crestfallen and his shoulders sagged. I thought back to moms words as she climbed out of the Fleetwood, “I raised you better than that…,” and with a nod from mom, I said “we have a place and plenty of food…”
Paul grabbed my hands and pumped them enthusiastically, “Thank you, thank you!
An hour later, our convoy reached the end of the pavement. There was no way the RV was going to make it all the way down the sandy roads to the tower, so we had decided to leave it here and proceed on the ATV. Surprisingly the van managed to keep up all the 9 miles to the tower, but I bet it couldn’t have been a comfortable ride for the injured man.
Sam opened the gate and allowed the vehicles in, his mother drove around to the generator, and a few seconds later the house lights came on. Sam walked to the van to help Paul get his brother inside and into the unclaimed bed. Mom had been right, the shoulder wound was nothing serious, but it looked like it hurt. She brought in a duffle bag Sam had pilfered off an ambulance a few weeks ago and started to work. Sam left the room when she pulled a syringe with a long needle from the bag. He hated shots.
Paul was on the couch, looking exhausted. “I don’t mean to be a pest, but you mentioned food?”
“Sure thing, Mom will ground me if I forget my manners.” They shared a chuckle while Sam moved to the kitchen. He found a few cans of spam and some spaghetti and went to work. The generator had been off all day so he opened the window to air out the house, while he waited on the water to boil.
By the time he was finished; mom had come back out and announced that Ken was resting comfortably, and that he would be fine. Paul let out a sigh of relief and took the offered plate. “Smells good, what is it?”
“I have no idea.” Sam replied, and they all dug in.
They ate and talked about what they knew and the things they had seen. Sam was again reminded of how easy his trip to the relative safety of the swamp as Paul recounted a tale of the suffering and heartbreak he had endured in his
“Who shot him,” Sam asked as the man paced nervously just outside the vans open side door.
“Some little boy, he waved us down about twenty miles back and as soon as we opened the door to let him in he pulled out a pistol and fired! I couldn’t believe it!” the man threw up his arms in disgust. “I guess he was going to try to rob us, but he couldn’t have been more than 10!”
“You are lucky, he probably wasn’t alone. But don’t worry about your brother, mom will take good care of him, she was quite a nurse before all this.
“Thank you for stopping! I don’t know what I would have done… I am Paul and my Brother is Named Ken.
“I’m Sam and her name is Carol, where are you headed?”
“We didn’t know. I only just found him a few days ago. I’ve spent the last several weeks working my way up here after the Inverness station fell. My brother is…was a ranger for the division of forestry and has been living in a cabin just north of Pensacola, we had been staying in touch by Ham radio. But then we were over run and I barely got out of there. We were headed towards Jacksonville when all this happened…” he waved a hand to indicate the van.
“Jacksonville is gone, the radio referred to it as a city of the dead before the radios went dead.” I told him about the news I had heard from the radio and mom, “as far as I know, there are no safe settlements left.”
He looked crestfallen and his shoulders sagged. I thought back to moms words as she climbed out of the Fleetwood, “I raised you better than that…,” and with a nod from mom, I said “we have a place and plenty of food…”
Paul grabbed my hands and pumped them enthusiastically, “Thank you, thank you!
An hour later, our convoy reached the end of the pavement. There was no way the RV was going to make it all the way down the sandy roads to the tower, so we had decided to leave it here and proceed on the ATV. Surprisingly the van managed to keep up all the 9 miles to the tower, but I bet it couldn’t have been a comfortable ride for the injured man.
Sam opened the gate and allowed the vehicles in, his mother drove around to the generator, and a few seconds later the house lights came on. Sam walked to the van to help Paul get his brother inside and into the unclaimed bed. Mom had been right, the shoulder wound was nothing serious, but it looked like it hurt. She brought in a duffle bag Sam had pilfered off an ambulance a few weeks ago and started to work. Sam left the room when she pulled a syringe with a long needle from the bag. He hated shots.
Paul was on the couch, looking exhausted. “I don’t mean to be a pest, but you mentioned food?”
“Sure thing, Mom will ground me if I forget my manners.” They shared a chuckle while Sam moved to the kitchen. He found a few cans of spam and some spaghetti and went to work. The generator had been off all day so he opened the window to air out the house, while he waited on the water to boil.
By the time he was finished; mom had come back out and announced that Ken was resting comfortably, and that he would be fine. Paul let out a sigh of relief and took the offered plate. “Smells good, what is it?”
“I have no idea.” Sam replied, and they all dug in.
They ate and talked about what they knew and the things they had seen. Sam was again reminded of how easy his trip to the relative safety of the swamp as Paul recounted a tale of the suffering and heartbreak he had endured in his
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