Dear Diary, It’s Me, Jessica: Chapter 16 (Book 2)

By the Author of Dear Diary: It’s Me, Jessica

Find the previous chapter here.

Dear Diary,

It’s me, Jessica.

I was not sure how many there were but they were in our garden.  It was still too dark to see anything, with pre-dawn twilight slowly lightening sky to the East.  

I was in my position, Rae to the left of me in her own position.  We set up what Jack called “fields of fire” for each of us to cover a zone and not to shoot each other.  I was behind a fallen tree, directly across from the abandoned house next to ours, Rae a few homes down in a hedge row.  It was still cool enough for sleeping outdoors, but the mosquitoes still buzzed around me.  We still had what Jack called “bug juice” to keep them off of m,e but they were annoying.  

Agonizingly the sky slowly grew brighter.  I now could make out the outline of the abandoned house but no real details.  Birds were now waking with their songs, crickets still chirped in the fading darkness, mosquitoes still buzzed around me, and I could still hear them in our garden.  I knew I shouldn’t let it get to me, but it infuriated me that all the effort Mom and I had put into those gardens was being taken.  I sighed, thinking Jack would be disappointed in me.  I took a few deep breaths and let go of the anger.  Focus on the task at hand. 

More time passed and I could now see more details.  I could make out the corn stalks but not the ears themselves.  It would not be long now.  I just had to wait.  When one of us could make them out to take a shot, we would first use our red lights on small, handheld flashlights to signal to the other one we were ready.  Being the closer of the two, I would wait several more minutes to make sure Rae could take a clear shot.

Now, I could see them clearly to make a good shot.  As I waited, out of the corner of my eye, I saw three red flashes. Rae could now see them clearly, too.  I responded back with two flashes of my red light.  We pre-arranged that I would take the first shot at the biggest target and she would follow with the second.  

I put the cross hairs of the scope on the first target:  A large, boar hog munching down on a corn stalk he knocked over.  He was facing three quarters away from me, I placed the cross hairs about two inches to the right of his left ear.  I squeezed the trigger and took the shot.  He dropped right where he was standing.  Rae was ready and waiting, and a half a second later, I heard her take a shot at a big sow.  I racked my lever rifle action, scanned for my next target, and took the shot at another sow.    By now, the rest were scattering, the remaining sowes, piglets.  I took three more well-placed shots at another sow and two piglets.  Rae got off a few shots, too.  

Once the rest of the hogs had run off, I stood up to take measure of Rae and my work: One boar, three sows, four piglets.  

Rae walked up,

“I would like to think they won’t be back after this, but HAM Guy said domesticated hogs gone wild is a real problem, even before the power went out.  He said there were reports of wild hogs wiping out entire gardens in a night.  Even rooting up lawns for grubs.”

“Well,” looking over the number of hogs we shot, “We have enough for ourselves, to trade with Katie and her Nomads and Four Corners.  We will have to process them fast before they go bad in the heat we have had over the past few days.”

“We still have salt for curing the meat, but we are going to need more after curing this bunch.  We will need to make a trip to the city.  Can’t expect Jamal to carry a few hundred pounds of salt in a grocery cart to the halfway point.”

“That never occurred to me.”

“Let’s do what we can with what we got,” Rae nodded toward the hogs.  

Entry two

A few days later, HAM Guy relayed to City HAM Guy that we were coming to trade, specifically for salt.  City HAM Guy would pass the word to Jamal, and he would be ready.  City HAM Guy asked if Savannah could come and check in on their baby.  He also mentioned a few others in their community who were in need of medical attention.  The next day, I went to Four Corners to see Jack and ask Savannah if she would be willing to make the trip to the city.  Savannah said she would, but was asked how we would make the trip.  Katie already agreed to loan me a saddle and tack for my horse and to provide Savannah with a horse.  Katie and some of her men would make the trip to the city with us for trade.  Savannah did not ride well, but as long as we did not have to do anything other than a walk or simple trot, she should be fine.  

I was bringing one of the processed hogs to trade for the salt.  Dad cured and smoked bacon, ham hocks, the legs, and the shoulder.  It should keep Jamal and a half a dozen others well fed for a week.  They could render the fat for lard to cook with.

We passed through Four Corners early in the morning.  Katie and Tom only exchanged a few cringeworthy praises of each other as we were pressed for time to get back home before nightfall.  Sean saw us approach the bridge on horseback and came out of his shack.  

“Aye, could you see about trading this?” he handed me a mason jar of moonshine, “For a set of boots, size ten and a half?”

“Will do, Sean,” I said as I took the jar and put it in my backpack.

“Thank you, young Jessica, appreciate it.”

We crossed the bridge and set out at a fast walk.  Katie thought we would be there before noon.  

The trip was uneventful.  The rolling hills and trees gave way to the outer suburbs and then the city itself.  

First, we stopped by City HAM Guy’s apartment building.  I was still amazed parts of the building had not collapsed from the damage it took when the fighting was at its most intense.  Savannah and I would go in while Katie and her men stayed with the horses.  

The metal door in the back of the apartment building immediately opened as City HAM Guy was expecting us.  He ushered us in quickly, closed the door, and set the cross bar and rebar to secure the door.

“Jessica, Savannah, thank you for coming,” he said excitedly as he led us through the apartment utility room and up the stairs to his apartment, where Colleen and the baby were waiting.  

Despite everything that had happened, City HAM Guy still used a key to open his own apartment door.  The way he held the door open for Savannah and me made me think of Tom and one of his flourishing bows in greetings.  

Colleen was sitting in an overstuffed chair with the baby in her arms.  She smiled warmly, “I just finished breastfeeding her.  She naps afterwards.”

“May I examine her?” Savannah asked.

“Of course!  We asked for you to come to check her out.  I think she is doing well, but wanted someone else with medical experience to make sure.”

Savannah smiled as she took the sleepy baby and put her on the coffee table to examine her.  

Unfortunately, Isabel did not like her nap being interrupted and began to cry.  Savannah did what she could to quickly examine Isabel.  Savannah re-wrapped Isabel in her light blanket and handed her back to Colleeen.

“Her lung and heart sounds are good.  Her flexes are good.  She has good weight on her.  You can start soft foods now, carrots, peas, that kind of thing.  Keep talking to her, read her stories, let her see your mouth as it helps her to form words later.  You, too, Dad,” Savannah addressed the City HAM Guy. “You need to be as involved in Isabel’s growth as much as Colleen is.”

“Oh!  I do make sure he is involved,” Colleen said with a stern look at City HAM Guy.

He blushed and looked away.

We left City HAM Guy, Colleen, and Isabel to meet up with Jamal at their own version of a market.  

We got a number of looks as we rode through on horseback, but no one did anything.  Not sure if it was the fact that we were all armed or if Jamal had spread the word that we were coming to trade.  Savannah and I slipped off our horses, while Katie and her men remained on the horses to make sure things were okay.  

Jamal walked up with his wide, warm smile.

“Jessica,” he said as he offered his hand, “Good to see you again.”  He nodded to Katie, “Good to see you as well, Katie.”

Katie smiled and just tipped her cowboy hat in greetings.

“I got the salt you asked for, about one hundred pounds.”

“And I got a whole hog, cured and smoked in trade.  Your HAM guy said you needed additional  medical help?”

“Yes!  There are some people who need to be looked at.  And two who need dental work.”

“I need to see them first,” Savannah said.  

Jamal turned to one of his men to get those two to bring them here.

While Savannah looked over those in need, I asked Jamal to trade Sean’s moonshine for boots.  Jamal nodded and smiled. He knew of someone who had a good set of work boots to trade for.  

“Jamal, I am going to need that moonshine.  Those two are going to need a tooth pulled,” Savannah said.  “I have some herbal mixes to help with minor pains, but pulling a tooth… they will need to be comfortably numb, if not knocked out.”

“Dang,” he sighed.  “Okay.  We will do what we have to.”

It was not pretty.  It was dang awful.  The one screamed.  I had to hold her down.  The other passed out.  Savannah did what she could.  But in the end, Savannah did it.  She was clearly not happy.  But she did what was needed.  

Entry three

Due to the needs of those who needed medical attention, we spent the night in the city and would leave the next day at dawn.  

We sat around a fire with Jamal and some of the others from their community.  

“Things are hard and at some times just okay,” Jamal said as he took a pull from some of the moonshine Katie and her men brought to trade.

“Some days, we fight with the other gangs across the city.  Other days, we trade with them.  It makes no sense.  We have lost a number of the very young and the very old.  I cannot say which is worse, as some of the older ones have knowledge of how to do things we would not know.  But to see the young ones pass . . . it is hard to watch.  They are or were the future.  To end so ever quietly.  Just like that,” he snapped his fingers.  “How is it with you?” he asked no one in particular around the fire.

After a long pause, Savannah answered, “We have been fortunate.  Four Corners has only had a few births, and they have been all successful.  The old, they have passed when it was their time.  But I think they knew their time was coming and passed on what they could to those who would listen.  Our mayor, Sean, makes sure we acknowledge them, those who have passed.  I think he knows his own time might be near.”

“Yes,” Jamal agreed and took a pull from the moonshine. “There was a time when we expected to live to our seventies or even eighties.  Now, death could be knocking on our door from something as simple as an infected toenail, an infected tooth, or just malnutrition.  How far we have fallen.” He took another pull and passed the bottle to his right.

Diary, I knew Jamal was right.

But I still do not know how I feel about it.

About 1stMarineJarHead

1^stMarineJarHead is not only a former Marine, but also a former EMT-B, Wilderness EMT (courtesy of NOLS), and volunteer firefighter.

He currently resides in the great white (i.e. snowy) Northeast with his wife and dogs. He raises chickens, rabbits, goats, occasionally hogs, cows and sometimes ducks. He grows various veggies and has a weird fondness for rutabagas. He enjoys reading, writing, cooking from scratch, making charcuterie, target shooting, and is currently expanding his woodworking skills.

 

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