Carrying On
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"I know the road at the bottom is Dover Rd, part of 57W but what's the name of this road and the one at the top of the hill?" "This one is Blackwell Estate Dr and is actually a private road and the other is County Rd 423W or depending on the age of the map maybe North Blackwell Rd. Why?" Andy said. "Because; look here. If this is the road I think it is it runs about 60 miles west and then t-bows at Highway 40 which is also Highway 12." Wes said running his finger along a line on the map. ***** "What do we have so far?" I asked a few days later knocking on the door to my office to bring coffee and sandwiches to the people who had volunteered for the patrols that were going out. "We'll be ready to go tomorrow morning in 2 groups, the pickup with the towbar and the jeep with a snow plow attached have been checked over and are packed with everything we'll need and gear for snow and ice or mud and rain and are being guarded until we leave for security. Both are all wheel drive with good 4 season tires and should be sufficient whatever the weather is. Given the situation we've taken extra precautions here as well and have made sure it will continue even while we're gone." "We packed enough food for 2 weeks as well as the k-rations from the tunnel along with extra weapons and plenty of ammo. Roy and David will be in the pickup while Bobby and I drive the jeep. Wes said ***** "Ms Jo, is David or Ashara around? Carrie and I need to speak to one of them and Brian doesn't want any of us leaving the building tonight; in fact, Danny and Andy are supposed to be gathering our families to escort them over here, Roy said coming into the kitchen." "Lizzie and Ashara should be over in a few minutes and David's in the small parlor resting. I've got a ham in the oven and white beans and corn bread cooking, you two have about 2 hours until dinner and Roy, Congratulations does your Grand Mother know yet?" "Yes Ma'am; she knows. She knew before I did." ***** After dinner we met in the alter room where White Eagle gave them in marriage and Brian blessed the union as Shaman since he couldn't legally marry them. Ashara gave her blessings also as Carrie's High Priestess and David married them. Mike and Andy witnessed it. After the ceremony we toasted the Bride and Groom and sent them upstairs. The rest of us retired to the main room and talked long into the night. ***** After the men pulled out the next day we all tried to busy ourselves with the day to day tasks of keeping Sanctuary going while trying to keep our minds off things. Mike gathered some people together and took advantage of the above freezing temperatures by transplanting the seedlings that were ready in sheltered places around the grounds and covering them with glass or clear plastic to protect them the best they could before the weather took a turn for the worse. Deciding the drier, warmer weather had made conditions safer Amy and Sue spent the day with the children as classes resumed. Andy sent the SHG volunteers out to patrol the upper and lower roads while others busied themselves grading paths and throwing down more of the ash mixture. Still others went up the slopes to check the traps and hunt - they were told to keep their eyes open and stay close enough together to signal for help if needed. When Mike had the planting and green house construction under control he checked the pastures and pens and turned the animals out then started a fire in the smoke house and culled out a steer and 2 pigs to butcher before taking a look at the fields. We cracked open windows to air the buildings out and Lizzie and Paula began taking a supply inventory with Ashara's help while White Eagle and Bea organized the women and set them to work scrubbing down the Chapel and Community Center. Starr, Penny and I were busying ourselves in the main house helping the women that were cleaning the rooms and changing the beds upstairs and taking down the cots in the parlor. With the exception of The Long Feathers and Mother Judy and Ms Cora who couldn't get back in their house because of the swollen creek and damage to the bridge from the ice flow and the Wilkersons who had had the roof of their trailer collapse from the heavy wet snow everyone was back in their own homes. The Kidmans had decided to begin construction again and were busy spreading and stacking lumber to help it dry out while Kyle and Ed checked the windmills and solar panals for damages. Everyone was busy doing something; Mother Judy and Ms Cora were helping Missy and Katy with the babies and the small children. At lunch time we all gathered in the Community Center and Ashara led everyone in prayer for the ones who weren't there asking that they be kept safe on their journey and thanking The Lord and Lady for the good weather. Afterwards everyone went back to thier tasks and the Executive Council had a short meeting. ***** "The smoke house should be ready to use in a couple of hours and a steer is already being prepared, next we'll kill a pig and a couple of sheep and Ron says he'll see to the hides and shear the rams before hand to preserve the wool. If the weather holds we should have the smokehouse and freezers completely stocked by the end of the week between the hunt and the livestock. Here's a list of what we'll need volunteers for and how many people we'll need. Also I checked the fields, if the rain holds off the north field should be dry enough to plow in a couple of days." Mike said when he sat down. "That's the best news I've heard for a while we can definately use some fresh foods and the animals need fresh air and exercise bad. Joe what kind of shape are we in with the building supplies?" I asked "Actually we're better off then I thought we'd be thanks to the tarps and with what we can harvest or salvage off the slopes for the mill we'll be in good shape and have plenty of firewood too. You can post an announcement for my people and anyone that can do carpentry or framing that we'll meet say tomorrow at 2:30 in the chapel to set up crews. We'll do the repairs first and finish up what was left when the storms hit." "Might as well go ahead and finish cleaning everything now that we've started and we need to check the graveyard and gardens and put someone to work on them. I guess Ron will take his Grand Father's place for now and we need to open the cellar doors from the outside to let it dry out and get it cleaned before mold and mildew sets in." Starr said. "Okey that sounds like enough to keep everyone busy for awhile; Penny and I will get the lists and announcements ready and post them along with anything else we can think of. I guess if that's it we all need to get back to work and pray it's not all for nothing." Starr said. ***** That evening everyone who wasn't on duty somewhere collected in the Community Center again for dinner and company. "Some of us are going to stand watch in the Long Feathers shack tonight. The lower road is under water so it's a safe bet no one's coming in that way if they have any sense but the SHG will extend their patrols down as far as they can just in case." Abe said. "We've been picking up chatter that the slight break in the weather has convinced some people to try again to get out of the cities and to higher ground so we need to be extra vigilent." Cindy said. "I don't think the influx of people is going to be as big as we first thought because the extreme conditions have taken such a major toll but----" "But the ones we let in may be in bad shape, they'll need to be kept in quaruntine until they can be checked out and still more will need to be turned away - some by force." Andy finished for Carrie.
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