Chapter 21
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By lunchtime Mace found himself on the road in the Jeep with Tres. The ride to Ronceverte took all of eight minutes. The south side of the bridge over the Greenbrier River was barricaded with cones and blocked by two pickups.
A deputized townie came out to meet them. “What business you have here?”
Mace said, “Just looking to purchase supplies if possible. We have cash.”
The man looked into the Jeep windows. “Can't let those weapons into town.”
“Can we park and walk in?”
The man shrugged. “Sure, but the weapons still stay here.”
Tres asked, “Any chance we can get a ride in? Twenty bucks to speed us on our way?”
A second younger man stood behind the first. “For a twenty I'll ride you around. My shift is up anyway.”
Mace said, “One of those your truck?”
The man nodded. “Green one.”
“For fifty would you take us around where we want and then bring us back here?”
The young man half smiled. “Seventy-five?”
Mace agreed. “Take us in. Oh, and for you, twenty bucks if you watch the Jeep. I would like our weapons to be there when we get back.”
The man nodded. “They'll be there. Only been five cars through here this morning. But I’ll take that twenty.”
Mace parked the Jeep, peeled off a bill to the remaining townie, and hopped into the cab of the green truck. Tres climbed in back.
“Name's Mace. You got a name?”
“Friends call me Bucky. Had bad buck teeth before my braces. Name stuck even after they was fixed. It's what everybody knows me by, so I just roll with it. What is it you're looking for? Groceries is right here. All the meat's gone though. They just got a generator running this morning for all the coolers. They do have strict per person limits though. Only restocking is limited to farmers bringing in local produce.”
“We're OK on food, but I would like to stop there on our way back. Wouldn't happen to have an Army-Navy store in town, would you?”
Bucky shook his head. “Nope. Closest one of those I know of is all the way down in Radford, below Roanoke.”
“OK. How about somewhere that has plastic tarps? We want to cover a vehicle. Just don't want anyone bothering us.”
“We have a home supply store. I can take you right there. I think they opened this morning. Oh, and everybody is cash only.”
They arrived at the store to find a dozen other vehicles in the parking lot.
Once inside, they were directed to the tarps. A dozen large camo-green tarps were purchased and thrown in the bed of the pickup.
Mace asked, “Happen to know where we could get sulfur?”
Bucky turned. “Making your own gunpowder?”
Mace nodded. “Would like to have that option.”
“Well, gun shop might have some. We got a lot of black powder rifles around here. If not the one here, we got a shop up in Fairlea or even further up in Lewisburg.”
“I'd pay extra if you'll take us.”
Bucky smiled. “Hot dang! I'm gonna make more toting you around than I would have if work was running.”
“What do you do for a living?”
“I wash down the floors at my uncle's chicken coops. It's a nasty job, but at least I have a full suit and a mask. New regulations since all the bird flu problems.”
Tres asked, “Don't you have to keep the coops running? I mean, the chickens don't power off.”
Bucky laughed. “Chickens power off... sometimes I wish they would. No, the buildings I clean are at the end of a cycle. We just sent the whole lot to slaughter ten days ago. Without power I couldn't run the pumps to clean the place out. What you do?”
Mace said, “Bartender.”
“Now that's a job I couldn't handle. I'd be drinking all the profits.”
“Wouldn't be hard to do. Although, I will say that since I've been on the other side of the counter I drink a lot less. Kind of loses its flavor, if you know what I mean.”
They pulled into the local gun shop. “Sign says open. Not sure what he’ll sell you, since you're from out of town.”
Mace hopped out of the truck and made his way through the front door with Tres right behind. One man sitting in a chair looked at him suspiciously while another stood behind a counter.
“What can we do you for?”
Mace replied, “Wouldn't happen to have any sulfur, would you?”
“I do. How much you need?”
“How much you got?”
“Comes in five pound buckets.”
Mace reiterated: “How much you got?”
The man thought for a moment. “I got probably forty, no, fifty buckets. Black powder season's coming up and it's popular around these parts.”
Mace said, “I'll take as many as you're willing to sell me.”
The man's eyes lit up. “I'm willing to sell it all if you've got cash.”
“How much?”
The man leaned back his head in thought. “Mmm. Two thousand?”
Mace pulled a stack of bills from his jacket pocket, laying it on the counter. “I just happen to have it on me.”
The man smiled as he looked over at the other man in the chair. “I may just close for the rest of the week! Anything else I can sell you?”
Tres said, “Fuse cord?”
The man again smiled. “Got a roll of sixty feet. You fellas planning on blowing something up?”
Mace shook his head. “No, just a fireworks celebration. I like making my own shells. I was going to wait a while, but with power out, got nothing but time on my hands. Thought I'd get an early start on New Year’s planning.”
The man gave a half smile. “Must be one heckuva celebration.”
“By the looks of it, not even sure if it will happen this year.”
“You're telling me. This is just crazy. I think it's the Russians or the Chinese.”
Tres replied, “Nope. They are out of power too. The whole world's out.”
The man tilted his head back. “You don't say. How do you know this?”
“Ham radio, but even that's out now. We're expecting to see some Army or National Guard movements any day now. Your people did well to block off your town.”
“It's been good for business, I'll tell you that. Sold half my stockpile of ammo in the last three days.”
Mace paid the man for the cord. “If I need anything else, I'll be back to do business with you.”
The man said, “Bucky, just pull the truck around back. We'll help you load it.”
Once across the river, the materials were transferred to the Jeep, loading it down to its maximum. As they pulled back onto the asphalt, the front end tilted into the air for a short hop. The ride back was slow as the front wheels squirreled around on the roadway due to the weight in the back. When they arrived back, the cargo was carried into the cave.
Johnny and Jane were sent back to Ronceverte in the SUV for any food supplies that could be obtained. Mace took his time on watch duty by the roadway. Soon after he had taken a seat, Jasper came slowly waddling up through the woods.
“What you coming all the way up here for?”
“I love to talk about the cave, but that Tres just asks one question after another. He wants the short version to every question. Keeps cutting off my stories.”
Mace laughed. “He's a good kid. Just an enthusiast. The Civil War is one of his passions.”
“Yeah, well, I didn't fight in it. I wasn't there. I just have the stories that were passed down to me, and he's not interested in stories.”
“Well, you're welcome to sit up here as long as you want.”
Jasper nodded. “I know that. I own it.”
“You've got that dry sense of humor like Johnny.”
Jasper turned to face him. “Johnny? That overstuffed windbag? Always the joke cracker. I'm starting to wonder if I made a bad deal.”
Mace was quiet for
a moment.
Jasper took a deep breath. “Seriously, though, I am glad you people showed up. I love my sister and her kids, and their kids, but I would be going nuts sitting over there with nothing to do. Would have more fun just sitting out here looking at cows.”
Mace crossed his arms. “I'm glad this worked out the way it did too.”
Jasper crossed his arms. “You know, I was thinkin'... if we blocked the road just down around the curve here, and just before 52 up here, we wouldn't have to worry about any cars. People traveling through could still go around on 52. We just need the neighbors through this stretch aboard. Put up a sign that says, 'bridge out - use 52.’ That would give us almost a mile stretch of our own territory.”
“How many people would that be?”
Jasper thought. “Maybe twenty-five homes?”
“Not bad. We could let them in and out whenever they wanted, and get them to help with policing those points.”
“That's possible. I know just about every one of them. Only two or three moved in the last few years that haven't stopped by.”
A car came up the road. Mace helped Jasper around behind the small building they sat beside.
“You recognize that car?”
“Not certain. Looked like the Jensens. I might could have seen better if someone wasn't jerking on my arm.”
Mace laughed. “You are ornery, aren't you?”
“I'm really an old softy. But I'm guessing you already knew that.”
“Secret's safe with me.”
Johnny and Jane returned an hour later with an SUV loaded with food. Shortly thereafter, a truck arrived carrying two large gas grills and a three hundred gallon propane tank. Attachments were connected to the tank allowing the refill of the smaller grill tanks. The grills were pulled down the walkway into the Chapel Room of the cave, along with a large portion of the supplies.
Mace met them at the gift shop, looking at the entrance to the cave. “Any way we can build a wall across that opening? Maybe a walkway behind it that we can defend from if needed?”
Johnny took a deep breath. “Big opening. We'll need a lot of wood.”
Mace glanced toward Ronceverte. “Building supply over there has stacks of lumber. Bet we could get a truckload brought out here. How are we doing with cash?”
Johnny thought for a moment. “I'm guessing we've burned through maybe eight thousand. We brought forty. And don't mention it to anyone, but we have twenty ounces of gold hidden on the RV. I figure the cash is probably only good for a month. The gold maybe a couple months after that. At some point we will want to set ourselves up to barter for whatever we need. I'm wishing I had paid more attention to those prepper magazines.”
“You had forty grand in cash laying around?”
Johnny chuckled. “In a safe, but yeah. Was getting time to trade in the SUV for a newer model. I like taking cash so I can wave it in the sales-manager's face when negotiating. Guess it was an opportune time for the world to go nuts.”
In the days that immediately followed, two truckloads of wood were delivered to the drive in front of the gift shop. Power tools were purchased and the generator of the RV used to power them. As Johnny and Tres worked at closing off the front of the cave, Jane joined Mace for another run into town.
The following afternoon, a five hundred gallon diesel tank was delivered to the property and filled. The twenty-some-odd neighbors were contacted and the roadway in front of Organ Cave was blocked off. A small building at the corner of 219 and 63 was converted to a storage and drop-off point. Any new materials or supplies would be delivered to that location, before being moved to the cave area or the other homes.
Within ten days of their arrival, the community organized around Organ Cave was bustling with activity. The ladies of the surrounding homes took turns cooking meals as the men continued to work on security and growing food.
Jasper sat in a rocker on the gift shop porch as Mace walked up the steps. “You fellas sure are organized.”
“Not like we have a choice. I'm starting to get worried about the size of our group though. The outlying neighbors are wanting in. I don't know that we can support everyone.”
“I've been thinking about that. What you might want to do is to organize the surrounding neighbors into their own co-op groups. Let them work on their own security and food issues. To you, they would just be trading partners.”
Mace frowned. “Wish it was that easy. You're talking setting up mini governments, and that's not something we had ever planned on taking on.”
Jasper crossed his arms. “I don't know... the way I see it, you either get these people on your side or they might be the ones that become hostile. Let them govern themselves. You just trade with them and maybe work out security pacts.
“You could organize this whole valley if you wanted. They're most all good folks. You said you've talked to the sheriff in Union, and the people guarding the bridge into Ronceverte. That just leaves Caldwell, and this valley is mostly locked up tight. Go make deals with those three to not let suspicious people through and we can all be one big happy family.”
Mace laughed. “Says the man whose grand-nephew punched him in the eye.”
“Not saying you won't have problems—you will. They'll just be on a much smaller scale. A black eye doesn't compare to a bullet in the back.”
Mace looked across the property at Vanessa as she walked up to the roadway where Tres continued to stand guard. He wondered if they had done the right thing. Bringing outside people into a situation that seemed to be quickly ballooning out of control had not been in his plans.
He thought of the young girl Tonya and how much better a more sparsely populated Montana sounded than the worry that was becoming West Virginia. Survival here would not be limited to the undertakings of their small group. It would take the cooperation of the valley and the small towns surrounding it. His feelings of woe were broken as Derwood trotted up and sat in front of him. The simplicity of a dog's life had a sudden appeal.