Ray Gorham - Daunting Days of Winter

Sean smiled, his face awash with relief. “I think we’re going to be alright, gentlemen. Let’s go talk to this soldier and see what he has to say.”

The three men advanced side by side towards the soldier, their nerves settling, their confidence building with each step. They stopped five feet from the soldier and Sean extended his hand. “Sean Reider,” he said. “Militia leader.”

The soldier stepped forward with his hand extended. “Private First Class Lance Castillo,” he responded as he shook hands with Sean.

Kyle noticed the soldier appeared nervous as well, despite being well armed and clad head to toe in body armor.

“I assure you that we are here peacefully,” PFC Castillo said. He was all business now as he spoke, his face betraying little emotion beyond a slight quiver in his voice. “I must receive an assurance of a peaceful response before Sergeant Chandler will speak to you.”

Sean smiled. “I can assure you that we want to avoid conflict at all costs. We won’t shoot if you don’t.”

PFC Castillo nodded and signaled to the vehicle behind him.

Kyle noticed all of the weaponry aimed at them, then a man stepped from the vehicle. He appeared to be in his mid-forties and was dressed in a desert-camo uniform with various insignias on one of the sleeves. His stride was quick, and he approached the group with a subdued smile.

“Sergeant Chandler,” he said as he shook hands with each of them, his grip strong and assured. When introductions were complete the Sergeant stared at them for a moment and rubbed his chin. “I must say,” he began. “This has to be the best dressed militia I’ve seen this year. I’m flattered by the greeting.”

Sean held up his hand and spoke with a grin. “It’s my fault. We were at my wedding when we were informed of your arrival.”

Sergeant Chandler nodded. “I’m sorry for the interruption. I would guess we probably have your families pretty worried right now, don’t we?”

They nodded affirmatively.

The sergeant continued. “We’ll make this quick then, so you can get back to your celebration. I’m here on behalf of the US Government, such as it is. As much as we’d like to, right now it is impossible for food of any consequence to be supplied. Last estimates given were for a minimum of eighteen months before food supplies, in any significant quantity, could be made available. My personal opinion is that eighteen months is a pipe-dream if you’re thinking of grocery stores being stocked, but I won’t share that.”

Sean turned to his brother. “Go get word back that there’s no threat. Tell them they can go back home.”

Craig nodded as he turned to head back to the barricades.

“When food does become available,” Sergeant Chandler continued. “It will be the cities, or whoever is left there, who will get it first. Rural areas are going to be down the list.”

“That’s not right,” Kyle protested, speaking out before catching himself.

Sergeant Chandler held up his hand to ward off the complaint. “Not my decision. It’s simply a matter of logistics. It’s where the most people can be helped the soonest, not that it helps you any. However, if I were you, I’d thank God you’re not in a city right now. We’re stationed in Ft. Lewis, near Seattle, and I can assure you that you’re doing better here than the bulk of the population.”

“I’m sorry for the interruption,” Kyle apologized with embarrassment.

“That’s fine. I’ve heard worse. The biggest thing you have going for you is land, plus here you have water, so you’re doubly fortunate. We’ve been commissioned to deliver seeds. I have a convoy of trucks a short distance back, and on my word, one of the trucks will stop here and unload a pallet of seeds. These are seeds, not food. Do you understand the difference?”

Sean nodded.

“This will be the only delivery you get this year, and a condition of our delivering this to you is that these seeds are to be planted, and food produced. There will be more than enough to provide for your community, as long as you farm them carefully.” He placed a lot of emphasis on the word carefully. “If you do not, then a lot of you are going to go hungry.” He looked at Sean and Kyle again. “From the looks of it, you’re not starving, so you can do the work. For your sake, and for the country’s sake, farming needs to become your profession for the next few years. That and soldiering, because as of yet we don’t have a police force to offer you.”

“I don’t suppose you have any weapons for us?” Sean asked. “Or ammunition?”

The inquiry was met with a laugh. “My apologies for laughing. No, I don’t. If you want to know the truth, I was instructed to collect as many weapons as I could. Washington is worried that there have been too many shootings. I told them they could kiss my posterior on the weapons thing. The last things people are going to turn over right now are their guns, and I don’t blame them, nor am I about to disarm them. All I can tell you is to not waste your ammunition, because fresh supplies aren’t going to be available for a long time. Do you have any questions to this point?”

Sean shook his head.

“How many people are there in your community?”

“437 at last count.”

“Was that 537?”

“No, 437.”

“I thought I heard 537, because the pallets are broken down by town size, and 537 would be a good number of people to have.”

Sean raised his eyebrows. “That’s right. I thought you asked how many adults we have. There are 537 total with kids, and animals.”

Sergeant Chandler nodded. “I thought so. I’ll let my transport drivers know to leave a class C pallet for you. I know this is pretty quick, but we do need to keep going. There are five loaded semis under my authority have to get delivered before heading back to base for the next load. I know this is not what you want to hear, but I can’t emphasize this enough: you are on your own. If you let your crops fail, your people are going to be hungry. It’s as simple as that. There are no food stamps or any kind of welfare for you to fall back on. Those days are over and will not return for a long time. There won’t be any emergency supplies flown in if you get in trouble. I recommend you get everybody working with shovels and hoes, assuming you have those things. Use sticks if you have to. For the time being, you are your own police force, your own justice system, and your own military, so don’t wait around for someone else to come along and take care of you. I’m working with a limited crew myself.

“I wish I could be more positive, but it’s better that I be brutally honest. I wouldn’t expect another delivery of seeds next year, but these seeds are non-hybrid, so you can save and dry what the plants produce to grow again next spring. These plants will take a little more work and be a little more fragile than what you’re used to, but they’ll probably taste better and, more importantly, reproduce. Just make sure you save seeds. Good luck.” He extended his hand, then spun on his heels and started towards his vehicle. “Oh, one more thing. Our trucks are well defended, so don’t do anything that we’ll all regret, and congratulations on the wedding.” With that, he strode away, followed closely by PFC Castillo.

Kyle and Sean watched in silence as the military vehicle started up and pulled away. In the distance, they could hear other vehicles approaching, then saw a drab green semi-truck emerge from behind a stand of trees.

Kyle put his hands on his hips and felt a shudder run through his body. “I think in some ways I feel worse than I have in a long time,” he said as he turned to see the last of their own militia members leaving the barricades and hurrying back to their families.