Wilson Harp - EMP

“I asked her how she made enough to feed her kids and she showed me her garden and chickens. I was stunned, really. My folks never knew anything about chickens and our garden was just enough to keep Pop happy with fresh tomatoes in the summer.

“She had two full acres of beans and corn, with cabbages, carrots, onions, you name it. And she had close to forty chickens. She said she sold whatever they didn’t need and canned a bunch for the winter. She sold her eggs to a man who took them to a farmers market to resell and paid her power bill from the sale of those eggs! She also sold chicks to those wanting to have chickens and took in laundry for some of the neighbors.

Kenny looked at Ted and smiled.

“Including that redneck. He is the reason her husband left and he also taught her how to live off of her wits and the land.”

“How did you make her husband leave?” I asked Ted.

“I don’t like bullies. I saw him knock her around one too many times, and I went over and had some words with him.”

Kenny laughed. “Yeah, he went over to have words with a tire iron and .45. Tommy spent two weeks in the hospital.”

“And you spent six months in jail,” Anne said. “I remember that. They said you attacked him because you were upset to find out your neighbor was black.”

“No, I never had a problem with blacks. I just had a problem with those who thought that being stronger meant you could do what you wanted.”

“Yeah, well, Tommy kept beating on Sophia until he hears that Ted is getting out of jail. So he goes over to Ted’s house and burns it down.”

“What? When did he do that?” I asked.

“About two days before I got out of jail. They released me, I got some money from an ATM, hired a cab and got out to my place and it was burned to the foundation.”

“What did you do?” At this point I was completely captured by his story.

“I found a poker from my fireplace in the ashes. I went over to Tommy’s and knocked on the door. He opened it and laughed at me. Told me I was a stupid inbred cracker to think I could mess him up and not pay for it.

“I asked him if he had beaten his wife again. He told me it was none of my business. So I kicked the door open and walked in. He had a gun in his waistband, but I swung the poker until my arm was tired. His hand never found his gun. It slid across the floor. I got some newspaper and a metal pot from their kitchen and made myself a little fire-pit there in the living room. I set the end of the poker over the flames and told him I was going to get the poker red hot and then brand the words “wife beater” into his forehead. That is, unless he left the house that night.”

“I take it he left that night?” I asked.

“Broken wrist, missing tooth, and jacked up eye. He grabbed whatever he could of value and left in their car. Sophia was furious. She was screaming at me, saying she and her kids were going to starve. I went back to my place and slept in the woods. The next day I started building a shelter and set snares for rabbits.

“Sophia came over and watched me for an hour and left. She did that a couple of times before she asked me what I thought I was doing. I told her I was rebuilding and going to live off the land. Eventually, I taught her to do the same. She had it all going when this guy showed up.”

Kenny laughed. “Yeah, when I saw my sis was making it even though she was dirt poor, I thought she had been suckered into some scam by this redneck. So I went over and looked at his place and realized he was about as broke as she was. They were doing what I never realized I had always wanted to do.”

“What was that?” I asked.

Kenny pointed to the U.S. flag flying in the town square. “Live without relying on anyone else. The American dream.”

I was shocked we were already back in town. The saddle had been heavy, but the story these men told had kept me distracted from my discomfort. I set the saddle down and stretched. People were gathering around when I realized what made Ted a leader. He wasn’t a follower.

“I’ll take a look, but I don’t know why Anne said I could fix it. I just tinkered with electronics when I was younger. I didn’t go to school for it or anything,” I said.

“It’s not a high tech fix I’m looking for, David. I just need to see if we can figure a way to power up the receiver. I think if we can do that, we can get some news,” Ted replied

“What news do you expect?”

“I don’t know, but anything is better than nothing.”

“Want to send Farrin out to Poplar Bluff? They might have a radio there.”

“Not after what he found at Wilcox. If he was shot and chased driving up on a small town, I can’t imagine what he might run into at a place like Poplar Bluff.”

I nodded. The smoke from the west that morning a week ago made us all curious. We didn’t know if it was a forest fire that might endanger us or maybe a controlled burn trying to signal for help. We sent Farrin and his motorcycle to find out. He returned an hour later. It took him a good hour and six beers to describe what he saw. The entire town of Wilcox looked like it was engulfed in flames. There were clumps of men roving the area, burning what they didn’t want and taking what they did. Mostly women and whatever they could load into wagons.

One band of men saw him and called for him to stop. When he turned and drove off, he heard several gunshots. He never looked back.

It was decided then no one would go out to scout alone. Every road into Kenton was also watched by groups of armed men. Every day since, we had seen more and more fires pop up from the west. The bands of raiders and destroyers stayed away from Kenton. We assumed they had sent scouts as well, and had seen we were prepared to defend ourselves.

“We may need to send someone into Poplar Bluff eventually,” Ted said. “We are running low on basic medicines. I don’t know that we can legitimately trade for some from people there, but…”

“There might be some in medicine cabinets that were left behind by their owners,” I finished for him.

“You don’t like that, do you David?”

I shook my head. “No, makes me feel like we are not better than Lester and his group.”

“Well we are, we just need medicine. Going through people’s houses might be distasteful, but that is what we are faced with.

“I agree, I just don’t like it.”

I picked up the radio and put it in my satchel. “Who told you to let me take a look at this thing?”

“Anne. When she heard you were able to fix the tractor and the well pump, she remembered you had a knack for putting things together when you were a kid.”

“Those were mechanical in nature, this is electric. But I will see what I can do.”

“No harm in trying, it’s not like we are going to get less reception from it.”

I smiled and slung my satchel over my shoulder. Clyde was needed to help move some trees today, so I would have to walk the four miles home from the library. The day of the event, the walk into town had made me tired. Now I could walk four miles without paying attention.

The days had turned warmer and the rains had come to a stop. The fields were planted with the food that would allow us to survive, and everyone anxiously awaited the first harvest of lettuce and beans. Anything other than radish and turnip soup seasoned with a little green onion and boiled squirrel.

I walked past one of the fields and waved at the boys in the field. Two of them carried rifles and several others had sharp spades. Those with the rifles were scanning the edges of the field making sure no rabbits came in to eat the precious crops. Those with spades walked along each row, making sure no moles or other burrowing varmint was making itself at home.