M14 Forum

GeneCo

All of a sudden, a man on patrol ran in,"Tornado!"
Kurt could hear it roaring like a freight train, "Everyone get under the tables!" He ran to the door, Robert and his squad, Steve and his two men, followed.
"Damn it," Kurt muttered,"Why hadn't he been monitoring the radio?" He could see the funnel cloud, it was out back, in the field, past the fences, off in the distance. It was swirling, almost dancing, tearing up the ground, ripping trees like twigs, debris flying into the air. The sound was deafening, but Kurt could see it was moving away from them, but it was still really windy. "Ok, it seems to be moving away from us. We're back to full squad patrol. Robert, your squad is up in 2 hrs, I'd suggest gettin' some shuteye."
"Roger that," They both said in unison.
"Ok, Alpha Squad, as you were! Back on 4 man patrol," said Steve, into his radio, clipped onto his collar.
"Roger that," was the reply.
"Bravo Squad, finish your chow, get some sleep. Muster at 1930." Said Robert.
"Aye, aye." was the reply.
The men disbursed, leaving Kurt, Steve and Robert standing there. "Hold on one second guys and we'll take a walk."
"Roger that."



With that Kurt hurried inside and went straight to the tables. Folks were coming from under them. Children were crying. "It's OK, folks, the tornado has passed, it's OK for now. I'd suggest finishing up your dinner and get ready for a long night." With that, Kurt turned and walked back out.
"Ok, folks, there's nothing to worry about, let's do what he man says!" Jimmy spoke up.
Everyone got up and began putting their plates and stuff in the garbage cans that were set out( older folks wrapped their left overs and put them away). The children stayed with their parents. Things had changed- The 'sections' were gone ( the 'kitchen crew, the child care crew' , etc). Now they were just families riding out a storm in a rest area.
Ronda had already put her folding tables away and the grills were washed out and put back in their Rv's, before dinner. Nothing was on the sidewalk where the 'kitchen' used to be. Now folks were going to the restrooms and picking out spots and laying out their sleeping bags and cots and blankets and blowing up air mattresses, etc.


Back outside, Kurt said,"Let's walk around and see if there's any damage." It was already dark, but not night time dark, an eirie dark. Kurt turned on his flashlight and walked towards the entrance to the rest area. He could see it was blocked by a huge tree. "Well, there won't be anybody else comin in that way."
"Roger that."
They walked down and over to the fence and tried to see as far as they could.
"Damn, look at that." said Steve. They could see the path where the tornado touched down. The grass was gone and there was just dirt. They could see a big hole where a tree used to be. It's like God reached down and just scribbled in the Earth.
"The Finger of God."
They couldnt see much more, so they walked back up and around the parking lot, towards the RV parking. The wind was whipping pretty good now. Kurt guessed around 40mph with gusts up to 50. Several folks were out in their cars, getting stuff out, putting stuff in, standing around smoking, etc.
"So, whatta ya think?' asked a middle aged man.
"I think we're in for some rough weather." replied Kurt, almost automatically. He kept walking.



They walked over to the big RVs and the motor homes. There was a few different sizes, from a camper on a pick up, to a full sized coach, like a tour bus. Some of them were standing in a group, talking.
"So whatta y'all think?" asked Kurt.
About what?" asked one.
"It don't look good." said another.
"Well, do you wanna move the coach up against the building, to block the wind, or what?"
"One white haired man (Kurt guessed a pilot) spoke up," Well, I thought about that, but then, if the building goes, it'll take the coach with it. Depends on how bad it gets."
"Yeah, I guess so. So, no damage over here from the tornado touch down?"
"None that I can tell, how 'bout over there?' he asked, pointing towards he campsite.
"Oh just tore up some real etstate and pulled some trees like they were weeds. A big tree's blocking the entrance."
"Good, we don't need anyobody else."
Kurt looked at the guy. He was a middle aged, overweight yahoo. Looked like a cab driver. "On the other hand, anybody out driving right now needs to get off the road."
"So they can just pull over!"
"Yeah, and maybe you can get in yer car and shove off, right now!" That guy just got on Kurt's nerve.
"Make me!"
Kurt stepped towards him. The others stepped between them.
"Hey, hey, come on, we don't need this right now!" It was Robert.
Kurt stepped off, "Well keep that Yahoo away from me!" and walked off.
"Yeah, that's what I thought." He taunted.'
"Bert, why don't you shut up!" One of the men said.


Kurt walked towards the building, Steve and Robert followed.
"Don't worry about him, Kurt. He ain't nobody."said Robert.
"Man, I got ONE nerve and that guy jumped right on it."
"Come on, shake it off, we got other things to think about." said Steve.
"Yeah, you're right. Let's go inside and see what damage "Obama'' gonna do. Robert, you better get some rest, you're on in a couple of hours."
"Roger that." With that, he walked off.
" I gotta check on my men," said Steve, and he walked off.



Kurt walked over to the 'Medical center' and walked up to Margy.
"How's he doin'?"
"Oh he's still sleepin', she said, "He'll proabaly sleep thru this whole thing. Speakin' of that, what's the prognosis?"
"Well, to tell ya the truth, it depends on what that Hurricane does. If it tracks West, then all we need to worry about is a tornado. If it tracks East, we could be in for a doozy.
"Meaning?"
"Somewhere between whoa and Yow!"
Margy smiled and leaned into Kurt's arm.
"Meaning, we'll be lucky if the electricity stays on, lucky if the roof stays on, lucky if the building stays up."
Margy lost her smile. She turned back to her work.
Kurt couldn't help it, he gave Margy a hug and whispered in her ear," I won't let nothing happen to you and Frank, I promise." with that, he walked away.
Margy looked after him."If I's 25 yrs younger." Then she thought of her own boys and felt awkward.


Kurt walked to where Jimmy & crew was.
"How's the old man?"asked Jimmy, 'charming', as usual.
Ronda did that complimentary,"Tsk, uhh!"
"oh, he'll be fine. How're you folks?"
"Oh shoot, fine as wine, Said Tracy.( Tracy liked to mess with Kurt, much to Chis's chagrin)
Kurt blushed (not sure why).
Cindy spoke up,"Hey mister, those pigs blankets were good."
"Pigs IN a blanket." offered Dana, "and his name is Kurt."
"Well thank ya, Darlin'," Kurt said, then turned to the adults,"So, whatta y'all think?"
" 'Bout what?" asked Jimmy.
"Think we need to pull all those tables outta here?"
"Do YOU think we should?" asked Ronda.
"Well, yeah. If this gets worse, those things will be projectiles."
Jimmy jumped up, "You're right, Come on Chris." with that Jimmy and Chris jumped up and walked over to the tables and yanked on one," Folks, listen up, we need some help gettin' these tables and chairs outside!"
"Whaaa...?" was the reply from several folks.
Several folks got up and joined in. They began carrying the tables and chairs outside. This became a 'game' and got alot of folks involved and grew into something Kurt hadn't expected......
There were 'teams' of folks carrying tables out, but then other folks got on top of them and it became a 'contest' of who was most creative, carrying a table out. The whole room got involved and offered to act as judges and responded by clapping. Folks were coming up with alot of good ideas, some funny, some kooky, some over the top. The winners- a couple put their kid down, face down( on his shins and forearms) in his swimming trunks and slathered his back with bronzing cream and put an apple in his mouth and put fake grass around him.


"What the heck is goin' on," wondered Kurt. he was glad they's having a good time now, because some of them had No idea what was coming up.............

GeneCo

After the tables were gone, the lobby seemed alot bigger. Several folks brought in little pup tents, mainly for the kids, including Jimmy and Chris.

The wind began whistling around the building. The wind was picking up and blowing the storefront type, double doors( with paddle handles on the outside and panic bars on the inside) open. They just lock the panic bars down, so folks can walk in and out. Kurt went around and unlocked them so they'd stay closed( they latch when they close and you have to push in on the panic bar to get the door to open). This wasn't one of those "Malls" like at some rest areas, with a food court and gift shops. This was just a single little building, maybe 60' in diameter, with vending machines on one side and a big map on the other. Restrooms were outside, 'Men's' on one side, 'Women's' on the other.



"Robert, you got a copy?" Kurt heard Steve say over the radio.
"This is Robert. We're coming' around now."
Kurt looked at his watch, it was time for Robert and his squad to take over. He walked outside. It was raining hard and it was dark out but he could see the trees being blown around wildly. Steve and Robert and the security team were all standing there.
"How's Frank?"
"Oh he's fine. He's still sleeping."
"Looks like it's gonna get rough."
"Yeah, listen y'all don't have to ......"
"Yeah, we know....somebody's gotta do it."
"Well, if it gets too bad, y'all come on in."
"Roger, that."
"Well listen, if it's ok, my guys're hungry and tired, we just wanna go in and eat."
"Oh yeah, by all means. There's some meat and corn on the cob and stuff from dinner. Ask for Ronda."
With that Steve dimissed his men and they went inside ( they had to knock on the door and someone had to let 'em in).
Robert assigned his men and turned to Kurt. "This is gonna get alot worse."
"I know, we need a plan B."
"Plan B?"
"Yeah, in case this building comes apart. Let's walk." And Kurt started around the building. "Maybe this building has a basement."



Suddenly a bright light and a huge, loud clap and blast. They could feel the concussion. Kurt could smell Ozone. A bolt of lightning hit real close, maybe something out in the parking lot. Several car alarms went off.
"Ok, that's it, y'all're coming in! You can post your men at the doors! We dont' need nobody outside."
"Ok, men, muster inside the building!" Robert yelled.
They ran inside.


The electricy must be off, 'cause the lights were off, even the ones on the vending machine. Children were crying and folks were trying to calm them.
Kurt blew his whistle. "It's Ok, folks, we figured this would happen. Everyone has flashlights, right? Ok, let's pretend we're campin' out and we have to use flashlights."
One set of emergency lights came on over on the wall, but only lit up right in it's area.
There was more lightning and thunder, it was close. Everyone hunkered down. Kurt could see the wind pulling on the glass in the doors, it looked like the doors were breathing...in and out, in and out. There was a roar and one of the glass blew out. Several folks jumped up. Kurt couldn't sit still. He went over to Robert.
"We need to see if there's a basement here."
"Ok, let's go."



They went back outside and began walking around the building. The wind had picked up to about 60-70mph, Kurt guessed. It was fierce and blowing the rain practically sideways, which was coming down in waves of sheets. The parking lot looked eerie without the streetlights and the only lighting was the lightning. A couple of cars' alarms were bleeping, but the folks inside couldn't hear it.
"I've been around this building several times and not seen anything like a door or access to a basement!" said Robert.
"There's gotta be something!"
Just then they heard a huge cracking. That was either a huge branch or a tree. It slammed into the building, around from where they were. It sounded like a car had driven into it.
Kurt shined his light around. He couldn't see anything, but had a thought, "If it wasn't attached to the building, maybe it was out, away from the building". Suddenly he saw a fence down over the berm. There was a little bulding inside of it. He went over to it and Robert followed'
"What's this?"
"I don't know, I thought it was a power transformer or something!"
There was a small building and two doors, flat on the ground.
"I don't think so, we need to get this gate open!"
"Step back!" Kurt flashed his light to Robert, who'd drawn his pistol. He stepped behind him.
Blam, blam, blam, blam!!
Kurt shined his light. That lock still stood. Robert pick up a big rock and slammed the lock a couple of times, it came open. He opened the gate. The doors had another one.
Blam, blam, blam, blam!!
These came right open. The building housed a some kinda large pipe thing that reminded Kurt of a turbo. There was a electrical panel.
"Jackpot!!" Robert had lifted up one of the doors, on the ground.
Kurt looked over and shined his light. Stairs leading down into a tunnel.
They went down.
Sure enough, it led to the building and all under it- the basement! It was full of pipes and cables and conduit and a A/C unit, but still, there was plenty of room.
"Ok, we need to get everybody down here ASAP!" said Kurt. He turned up his radio.
"Steve, come in!"
"Go ahead."
"Muster your men! We're moving everyone to the basement!, NOW! Let's go!!"
with that, Kurt hurried back to the building. The wind had picked up even more. It was hard for Kurt and Robert to get back to the building, but they did.




Jimmy came running over, "What's going on!? Somehting hit the building HARD!"
"We're moving everybody to the basement!"
"The basement!?"
"Yeah! Get Chris, I'm gonna need y'all's help." He turned and blew his whistle hard. "Folks, it's here and I want us all to move to the basement!! Our security team wil help us...now get all your things together and get ready to move!!" He went over to the 'Medical center'. Steve and Robert, their squads, Jimmy, Chris and several other folks came over. Kurt went to the Doc.
"I wanna move y'all first. If you will, come with me and let's find a spot to set up downstairs."
"Are you sure this is necessary?"
"Yes Ma'am, I do."
"Ok, then , let's go."
"Steve, get everyone to get all their stuff together. I wanna move the 'medical Center' first, but then we'll want the coolers and food and need buckets for toilets. Send somebody to the restrooms and get TP. I'm thinkin' set up a daisy chain. Get all able body adults in on it. Robert, come with us. You ready Doc?"
"Ready."
With that the 3 walked out and down to the basement, it was Kurt and the Doc and Robert. Tree limbs were breaking off, stuff was flying thru the air, the rain was blinding. They barely made it. They had to hug the building and then go from tree to tree and then throw themselves onto the fence. Inside the fence. Kurt and Robert had to each grab a door and hold it while the Doc went down. They managed to get inside the doors and down. They walked around. There was some water in the floor, but it drained down to a drain. Thye walked in the opposite direction. There was a spot that was quiet and dry.
"This is it." said the Doc.
"Ok, so stay here and we'll get yer stuff and patient to ya."
"No, I want to go back and help."
There was some chairs and boxes, so Kurt 'cordoned' off the area.


So they managed to get back to the building and got inside.
Kurt said to Robert,"OK, you see what it takes to get to the basement, we need key folks at key spots to get everybody and everything down there."
"Roger that." He got right to work.
Kurt blew the whistle again. "Folks, were're gonna move the 'Medical Center' first, then the children, then everybody else. I need every able bodied adult to line themselves along the wall outside and then our security team will help you to the basement! Let's do it now."
He turned to Frank, he looked groggy and was bandaged and had a shirt half on." How you doin', Buddy?"
"I can walk! Let's go!" With that, they headed for the door, Kurt on one side, Margy on the other. Kurt intended to walk him all the way to his resting spot.
"Doc, you with us?"
"I'm right behind you!" was the reply.
They walked to the door, two of Robert's men were there.
They headed out.



Folks were lined up and were 'handing off', one to another, each person who came to them. That was how it was supposed to be. When they got to the edge of the building, two men came up and grabbed a person and 'walked( or carried)' them to the fence, handed them off to two other men, where two men were holding the doors open, and 'helped' them down the stairs.
Kurt helped frank down to the basement and over to the area he'd 'roped off'. He grabbed a chair. Frank sat down. Kurt grabbed another chair for Margy to sit down.
"Ok, y'all sit right here, Doc'll be right down."
"Don't you worry about me," said Frank," You get those kids and folks down here."
Margy began to cry and hugged her husband. She loved that man, she always did.
"I'll do my best, sir!" was Kurt's reply. He went back upstairs.


It took over an hour to get everyone down to the basement, but then, everyone was down and they secured the doors. Now they just ride it out. It was alot smaller than the lobby, but somehow, this was ok, as everyone was closer and this was a foreign place, it was dank and dark and smelled of snagnant water. Folks just sat there and listened at the storm above them. Many tried to comfort their children and other folks' children.
All they could hear was the moaning and groaning of man made stuff. It reminded Kurt of the movie "War of the Worlds", where Tom was in the basement with his two kids at their grandparent's house. They heard thunder and crashing and whistling sounds they'd never heard. This went on and on.
Kurt hoped it'd end soon. The weather radio said,".. the center of 'Obama' was goin' right up Mississippi. The East side of the system was getting the worst damage."


Kurt knew that was right......

GeneCo

The storm went on thru the night. Folks heard the howling roar of the wind and crashing and it was hard to tell between the crashing of the thunder and the crashing of other stuff. Several folks preferred to be in the tunnel. The space around the doors lit up every time there was lightning and they heaved from the wind, against the 2X4s bracing them closed. A few folks managed to sleep a little, but mostly folks just huddled under blankets and looked up. The noise went on and on.

Finally it subsided and folks saw daylight around the doors. They removed the wood and opened the doors. It was still windy and gusty, but nothing like before.
Kurt spoke up,"Folks, I think the security team should go out first. I know everyone's anxious to get out of here, but safety first. Let us take a look and then we'll get everyone outta here, OK?"
Sounds of agreement, sounds of relief, some started clapping.
Robert, Steve and their men were already lined up.
"Ok, let's go." said Kurt.
They went out. Unbelieveable. Except for a couple for young trees, all the rest were gone. The little building was gone, exposing the pipes. The roof of the rest area building was gone, the Women's restroom was gone. The East wall was gone, part of the North wall was gone. The parking lot was full of debris. Most all the vehicles were turned over, including the Coach, and slid over into a pile. Many smaller ones were out of the parking lot, down over the hill into the 'camping area', under water. The lobby was full of water and tree branches and debris and pieces of what used to be signs. The vending machines were laying face down. Even the emergency lights were out. A couple of folks checked the restrooms, they were full of water and debris.
"We need to clear some of this stuff outta here." said Kurt, as he began dragging branches out of the lobby.

Folks began coming out of the basement. There were gasps and crying and OMGs. Some took a few steps and just stood there. Others continued the slow walk around, as Kurt and them did. Finally they were all out that were coming). Some had to use what was left of the restrooms. Some started towards the pile of vehicles.
"Kurt blew his whistle,"Folks, please don't go down there yet, let's do it together. Can we have a pow wow in the lobby right now?"
They came back.
Several others set in helping clear out the lobby. They simply piled the stuff up right outside the building, where some picnic tables used to be. One of the men used a piece of broken, wooden sign to slide alot of debris to the edge of the floor and out thru where a wall used to be. Another found a tree branch from a pine tree, shaped like a hockey stick, with pine needles on the end and used it like a broom to sweep the water and small stuff right out, behind the first fellow. Several men picked up the vending machines. The plexiglass fronts had broken and the sodas, water and snacks had fallen out. Alot of kids and folks came over. "Breakfast", one said. Everybody was hungry. Alot of the crackers, cookies and chips had busted open and were wet, but still alot more and candy bars were still good. The coffee had spilled out.

Finally most of the debris and water was out of the lobby and Kurt spoke up, "Ok, is everybody ok?"
Everybody seemd to be ok, under the circumstances.
"As everybody can see, we got hit pretty hard, but it could be worse." He let that set in a spell.
The murmer was in agreement.
"Now, I dont know how y'all feel, but I don't see any more reason to stay here. I don't know if ya'll wanna stay together as a group or what, but I'd sure like to get home."
"But where will we go, how will we get there, what will we do?" Asked an elderly lady. Her husband wrapped his arm around her and several folks tried to calm her.
"Well, I suggest we go out and see what vehicles are still runnin' and go from there. We don't need everybody, it'd be nice if we could have child care again, get somebody to watch the kids."
"Yeah, if somebody can watch our kids, we'll all help." said Jimmy.
Mrs Bowman spoke up, "ok, do I have any helpers?" Several raised their hands and gathered around the children, who were still eating.
Ok, do I still have my news crew?" asked Kurt.
Stan raised his hand, as did several other elderly folks.
"Ok, let's take a 'breakfast break' and meet back in half an hour.
"Could we have a prayer from Mr Collins?" Ronda asked.
Several sounds in the affrimative.
"Well, ok, everyone please bow." said Mr collins
Most everyone bowed their heads.
"Lord, thankyou so much for delivering us from this terrible storm. We ask that You continue to bless us and protect us as we try to get home. In Jesus' name, amen."
"Amen." several said.
With that, they disbursed and several went to the bathroom and several went over to the vending machines.




Kurt walked out. Several others followed. They just couldn't believe how the vehicles were shoved together. Some's roofs were crushed, some flipped over. Most all the glass was broken out of them. Debris from inside folks' vehicles were strewn all about, wet.
"Wow...."said someone, expressing the sentiment of all there. "So...."
"Well, we just start on the outside and work our way in, but we should get pictures of all this, for insurance." He whipped out his cell phone.
"Hey look at this." It was the 'pilot' and he was looking at his coach. The coach had blown over, but a stand of trees had stopped it from falling all the way over. It was leaning at about 30deg angle on the passenger side. "Maybe we can tip it up."
Everyone walked over there, it seemed as good a place to start as any. They got up against it and tried to rock it, but it wouldn't budge. He got in. They could hear the fuel pump. Then they heard a buzz and he cranked it and cranked it and it finally burst to life, bellowing black smoke out the rear. The trees groaned, everybody scattered.
"I think he's gonna try and pull up." Someone said.
"Yeah, it'll either upright or break the trees and fall on over." said another. They could see the trees curved around to follow the curb.
The 'pilot' put it into gear and slowly let off the clutch. He pulled forward a little. The trees gave, but then pushed back. He lurched it forward, the trees did the same thing, only more. He lurched again, the trees gave and pushed, he lurched again. The coach went along the trees and the treeline literally pushed the coach up. He drove it forward and the coach tipped up and almost tipped over the other way. The wheels came off the ground, but he steered into the lean and it tipped back and swayed back and forth and stopped. The 'pilot' stepped out.
Everyone cheered. "Fine driving, fine driving." Some said.
"Thankyou, I drove for Greyhound for 35 yrs." he said.
So he wasn't a pilot, he was a retired bus driver.


"Ok, well, let's see about that mess over there." said Kurt, as he walked towards the 'pile up'. Everyone followed. The camper truck was next, only it was blown over and the camper wasn't on it any more, it was in pieces all over the parking lot. They rocked it over.
Kurt remembered the gas cans in the back of his truck. He ran over and found them. Some had leaked out, but most of it was there. He stood them up. His truck was on it's side, they pushed it over. He put the cans in the back.

One would thnk it'd be easy to find who's vehicle was whose and for the most part it was, but sometimes they had to check license plates.
"Who's car is this?"
"Mine," said one guy.
It was laying over, but not upside down. Several folks rocked it upright. The passenger side was smashed. He got in and cranked it, it wouldn't start.
"Can we push it over there, out of the way?' asked Kurt.
Several got right behind it and pushed it.
On by one, they pushed and tugged and rocked vehicles up and pushed them away from the rest. Some were damaged beyond repair, it looked like they'd been rolled several times and another vehicle was dropped on them from about 40ft. and the vehicles were still on top of them, but others, with a little banging the roof up, pulling the fenders off the tires and alot of cranking, they eventually started right up.
Both Jimmy's and Chris's vans were blown over, but then they started using trucks and straps to upright these vehicles.
Frank's Crown Vic was sitting on it's tires , but the glass was broke out, where other cars had been pushed into it.
After several hours, all the vehicles that could be saved, were. Several tires were flat, so several folks swapped the spare.
Kurt remembered he had some Visqueen and duct tape(that he bought for the job). He broke it out and folks began closng up doors and backs.

Evening had rolled around by the time all was done. Several folks decided to go on their own and set out. They'd cleared the exit, so it was open.
Noone had slept good last night, so most folks decided to stay the night. In fact, most decided to sleep down in the basement, as they felt safe down there.
Kurt decided to sleep in his truck. He spent the remaining daylight straightening out his truck( his bag fell out and got wet) and hanging his clothes over the seats to dry. His ALICE pack( he'd put the MREs in there) fell out, but nothing in there would get hurt getting wet. He'd put his Remmy under the seat and it was still there. He finished taping up the doors and back, where the glass broke out. He went down to see Frank and Margy. Frank was sleeping and Margy looked tired.
"Why don't you get some sleep?"
"I will, I'm beat."
"I just wanted to come down and check on you and Frank."
"Oh, we're fine, just tired."
"Ok, well, I'll see y'all in the morning."
With that, Kurt walked back up to the lobby, picked himself up a tea and walked out to his truck. He got in and opened up a MRE. He heated it up and wolfed it down. He'd forgotten when he ate last, but this was good. He ate everything and drank his tea. He went to the bathroom and then went back and laid down. "He was alseep before is head hit the pillow"........

GeneCo

Kurt was in a helicoptor again. The wind was blowing hard and the noise and the "wap-wap-wap" of the rotors was deafening. He looked around. His wife Elli and the boys were there too. "What are you guy's doing here!?"
Just then, they waved, got up, walked over and stepped out of the 'coptor.
"NOOOO!!! WHAT ARE YOU DOING!!?" Kurt screamed. He jumped up and made his way over to the door and looked out. They were flailing around like ragdolls. "NOOO, WAAAIT!!" What could he do? He looked around for parachutes, but saw none. His mind was racing. How could this happen? They're all gonna......."NOOOO!!" He won't live without them. He fought every fiber in his being, closed his eyes, took a deep breath and jumped into the abyss after them."NOOOOO!!"

His body jerked into consciousness and he sprang up in his seat. He was soaking wet and breathing hard. His heart was pounding. Man, that was a bad one. It was so realistic. He looked around, folks were milling around, loading their cars, finshing up taping their windows, etc. Kurt got out and grabbed his shaving kit and a change of clothes. He had to use the bathroom bad. He saw Jimmy and Chris and them tying off stuff on top of their vans. Somebody had found some red tape for the tail lights. He went on in.

Afterwards, he went back to his truck and put away his gear. He grabbed a tea and took out a MRE and began heating up the entree. He checked his cell phone, it had bars! He called his wife Elli.
"Hello?"
"Hi Honey, it's me."
"OH Kurt, it's you! I've been so worried! How are you, where are you, are you oK?"
"I'm ok Honey. I miss y'all so much. I love you."
"Oh, I love you too Honey. Did you feel the Hurricane?"
"Oh yeah, it tore the rest area building up, but we found shelter underground."
"Oh I'm so glad. They don't know how many are dead, more than 5000 so far. New Orleans is gone. All the Coastal towns from New Orleans to Pensacola are gone. They have damage 50 miles inland. There's still storms and flood and tornadoes up North."
"Yeah I imagine so. How's our place?"
"Oh it's fine, we got alot of wind and rain and lightning, we're fine. I guess none of the neighbors has electricity, but we're fine. We don't have internet, but the CB's up."
"What's it like in Knoxville?"
"Oh they got alot of damage, they had several tornadoes. Several roads are closed. Truckers are having a heck of a time getting thru. So what's the plan, Stan?"
"Well I plan on getting home, but there's several folks here with kids and old folks. I'll travel with whoever's going to Knoxville and then make my way home."
"Well you be careful and take care. I miss you and love you so much."
"Me too , Honey, I'll call when ever I can. OK, talk to ya later. Love you."
"Love you, bye."

His MRE was still warm and he was hungry, so he ate( he ate it all and ate everything), this time with mucho gusto. He talked to his wife and his family was ok. Now it was just a matter of getting himself home.


Jimmy came over,"How's it going chief?"
"Oh it's going great, I just talked to my wife."
"Oh yeah, how they doin'?"
"Oh they're fine, but Knoxville may not be."
"What?"
"She said they had several tornadoes and several roads are closed."
"Oh ****, well then we need to get there ASAP."
"Well look, we need to get thru Chattanooga first."
"Oh yeah."
"One day at time, one hour at a time."
"You got it boss."
Kurt got out,"So is everybody ready to go? Think it's time for a powwow?"
"I think so, I'll get folks together."
"ok, let's go."

With that, Jimmy blew his whistle, as he and Kurt walked over. Folks began gathering.
"Folks, can I have your attention , please?" Said Kurt," We need to get going here and I want to say it's been real and it's been good, but it's not been real good."
Several folks voiced the affirmative, several folks clapped.
"We're staying, we have folks coming and insurance adjusters." said Robert.
"Ok, fine, no problem, if that's what you've decided."
Several folks walked off and went into the lobby.
"Ok, Now, we need to decide what we're gonna do. I'll tell ya right now, I want to get home and I'm sure that's what ya'll wanna do too, right?"
Many voices to the affirmative.
"Ok, so I suggest we travel together. Is everybody ready?"
"Several have doubled up. The Coach will take several." Said Jimmy.
"Ok."
"We're goin' with ya." said Frank.
"Ok, well, I suggest we get goin'. Who needs gas?"
Several raised their hands.
"Ok, we stop at the first place we come to."


With that everyone who was going got into their vehicles and set out. The Coach led out first and Kurt brought up the rear. There were several beat up vehicles in between, but folks did a good job of closing up openings and getting lights working. They were taking I-59 North and Ft Payne was 60 miles.



They got to Ft Payne and pulled off and into a truck stop it was swamped with folks. The Coach pulled around to the semi/RV islands, while everyone else pulled into line at the car islands. Kurt pulled into line. An hour later he as able to gas up ( and topped off the gas cans). He pulled over to the parking lot and went inside. He decided to get a CB and a GPS. Several others did the same. Alot of folks got food and water. He went out and installed it in his truck( they had a plug in the harness that allowed to just plug and go).

Two hours later, they were ready to get back on the road. They'd ageed to go to channel 18 (since 19 was the trucker's channel). So everybody spent the next several hours, coming up with a handle and figuring out who everybody was. He knew who "Greyhound" was but he couldn't figure the rest, but he was busy thinking of his own. Finally he got it,"Breaker there Greyhound, this is the CrackerDevilDog, bringing up the rockin' chair."
"Go ahead there Cracker, we're hammer down and clear of smokies."
"Hey CrackerDevilDog, this the Knoxville Knocker."
"And this the 5150."
Jimmy and Chris both had CB's.
"...And this is the SWATDOG."... it was Frank.
10-4, Swatdog, comin' in loud and clear."
Several other folks chimed in and folks felt closer now.


They crossed into Georgia and into Chickamaugua. They'd agreed to pull in there for gas. This wasn't a truck stop, but one of those tourist complexes, where they had big billboards( but they'd blown away) for the battlefield. Kurt filled up and went in a got a fold out thing that showed the battle, where the Union forces, led by Gen Rosecrans, were and where the Confederate forces, led by Maj Gen Braxton Bragg, were and how it went. This was a Confederate victory. Kurt felt good. He knew Ft Bragg,NC ( home of the Airborne Rangers and Spec ops) was named after him. He just liked to be this close to a famous battle. He got goosebumps just thinking about it. He said a prayer to the fallen soldiers on both sides. His training in the Marine Corps taught him that a warrior is a warrior, it doesn't matter who they fight for. They deserve respect and honor.


They drove on and made it to Chattanooga. The sun was beginning to set and they decided they'd need to spend the night somewhere. They decided to pull into another truck stop, gas up and pull around back. They circled the vehicles and built a fire inside the circle. Several folks had fold up chairs and it was a regular 'family gathering'. The children played together 'til bedtime. The grownups worked together. Ronda had set up her folding tables and was already set out to fixing dinner, for 12. Jimmy was a lucky man, but he knew it. Tracy was a luck woman, but she didn't know it. Chris broke out his guitar, Kurt broke out his harmonca. Somebody had some beer. They went thru every classic rock and blues tune they both could come up with, sometimes pushing the other past where they'd ever been. Everyone was surprised at how good a time they had.

GeneCo

Kurt jerked awake to a "boom", off in the distance. " Must be a thunderstorm." he thought."Boom, boom, boom," Wow, that sounds like a big storm. He sat up, the sky was clear, daylight was just coming. "BOOM! BOOM! Rattatatatatat!" What the Hell? Kurt got out, put on his gun belt, press checked his pistol, grabbed his binoculars, and got his Remmy out of the scabbard. "Boom! Rattatatatat!" it was coming from over that ridge, so Kurt stalked over to the ridge. When he got to the ridge, he turned and went up the ridge, to get to the top. There was a stand of trees and a huge rock formation, so Kurt layed down against the rock and crawled up over the ridge. There was a valley down below with a creek running thru it. Through his binoculars, he could see there were soldiers on both sides of the creek, facing each other. One wore dark blue and the other wore gray. They were lined up on either side of the creek as far as Kurt could see. The front lines had their rifles up to the ready with the long bayonets, like a fine toothed comb. There were men on horses, nervously prancing back and forth, sabres drawn, barking out orders. Men on the ground yelling. There were cannons lined up. "BABOOM!! BABOOM!! BABOOM!! Rattatatatat!!" Smoke reached across to the other side , following the cannonball. The cannonballs ripped thru men like paper, then exploded and body parts, dirt and follage flew in every direction. The front lines fell, the next line stepped up. The men on the horses yelled, BABOOM!! BABOOM!! BABOOM!! RATTATATATAT!! More men fell. Kurt could see folks getting hit in the head, chest, arms, stomach, legs, everywhere. The creek ran red. He was horrified! He came upon his knees and began yelling and waving his arms.'Wait!! STOP!! THIS IS MADNESS!!" A man on a horse rode over to the nearest point to Kurt, then turned and yelled. The nearest cannon turned and raised the muzzle. "BOOM!!" The ball hit on the other side of the rock formation. "Wait!! STOP!!" He saw the men reloading. "Listen!" "BOOM!!" He saw the ball coming at him like a black moon. "CRASH!!"

Kurt jerked awake. He was soaked again. Man that was vivid. He sat up and looked around. He got out and stretched. He twisted back and forth, arms out, trying to loosen up. His neck was sore from how he slept. He rolled his head around and massaged his neck. He reached in and grabbed a washcloth and got it wet and put it to his face. That felt good. He wiped his face and neck. He reached in and press checked his pistol, pulled the magazine out and made sure it was topped off and then stuck it in his waistline and covered it with his shirt. He looked around for a clean shirt, grabbed his shaving kit and walked towards the bathroom. He saw several cars had left. He saw Jimmy and crew and walked over to them.
"Mornin' Boss! How's it goin'?" said Jimmy.
"Mornin', how're y'all?"
"Fine as wine." said Tracy.
"Man, y'all were jammin' last night!" said Jimmy
Kurt looked at Chris and they nodded to each other."Aww, Chris just made me look good."
"That's my man!" said Tracy, as she reached over and kissed him.
"You were jammin' too Honey, last night." said chris.
Chris and Jimmy laughed and high fived.
Kurt, Tracy and Ronda smiled and blushed.
"Anyway, if you're planning on going to the the bathroom, there's a schedule, 'cause there's only one." She looked at her notebook."You're up in 30 minutes."
Kurt looked at his watch. 6:10. He couldn't wait that long.
Jimmy saw the look."There's bushes down around back."
"Jimmy," said Ronda.
"Oh yeah, we don't have that plumbing problem yall have."
"Thanks. See y'all later."

Kurt took his stuff back to his truck and opened a MRE and got the entree to heating up. Then he went to the bushes to 'take care of some business'. Several other guys were doing the same thing and it was kind of awkward, but everyone minded their own business.
He went back and ate breakfast. He turned on the emergency radio and tried to get some news. He found a channel and they were going on, naming all the towns and cities that were wiped out by Obama and how FEMA was overwhelmed, several States were filing States of emergency, deploying Natl Guard and that thousands of folks were missing and/or dead. Power was out over 1/3 of the Country, bridges were gone and dams were broke and whole towns were flooded. He clicked on the GPS and punched in his town and looked at the map. He could see I-59 had turned into I-24 and that'd turn into I-75, on in to Knoxville. Then he'd take I-75 North to Hwy80 at London and head East from there. He finished his breakfast and looked at his watch. 6:30, time to go. He tried his cell phone, no service.


He grabbed his stuff and walked in. There were folks standing around and a old man spoke up," Where's my 6:40?"
"Here" said Kurt.
"Ok, get in front. Ok, my 6:50? 7? 7:10? 7:20? 7:40?"
There was an old woman doing the same thing over at the girls restroom.
A guy came out with his two boys.
Kurt walked in, "****, shower and shaved", changed his shirt and was out in 7 mins.
The next one went in.
Kurt figured everybody'd be ready in an hour. He bought a block of ice ( that's all they had) and a 6 pack of tea and some Twizzlers."Y'all have power?"
"Generators."
He took the stuff back to his truck. He put the block inside the cooler and began chipping it apart with his Kbar(he'd borrowed a cordless drill and drilled a hole in the pommel and put some 550 cord thru it, took a file and filed the handle flat on the sides and finger grooves on the bottom, then waxed the whole handle again) . When he got it into several smaller pieces, he put the tea in. He opened one and walked over to the group who'd gathered. Some were gathered around Chris, patting him on the back. Tracy was enjoying the attention.

"Well, it looks like some folks went on." said the Greyhound driver.
"Yeah, I guess they decided they could make it on their own. Good luck to 'em."
"So, have you heard anything about the Hurricane and damage? We heard it's real bad. Terrible. They don't even know how many people are dead or missing. 1/3 of the Country are without power. Bridges are out, places are flooded, dams are broken."
"Yeah I heard the same thing. We'll have to be careful and see what happens."
"So, we're on I-24 and that'll take us to I-75 and on into Knoxville. We'll be heading South on I-75. We're going to Atlanta, so we'll just peel off and head South."
"Ok, good luck."Kurt stuck out his hand and they shook hands.
"Thanks for everything."
"Aww, we all pulled together." With that, Kurt looked around,"So is everybody here? Are we ready to roll?"
Everybody voiced in the affirmative and everyone walked to their vehicles. Kurt saw there was some re-arranging as the Coach was heading South. He went to his truck and got in line, bringing up the rear.



They slowly pulled onto the Interstate and it was packed, both ways, but traffic was moving, so they kept moving. As they drove around Lookout mtn and past Chattanooga, they could see most of it was under water. The only thing they could see was roof tops and taller buildings, sticking up out of the water. The lanes had merged into a single lane, as a mud/rock slide had spilled down onto the road. Past that it opened up and sped up. Kurt saw the signs for I-75.
"Breaker CrackerDevildog, you got yer ears on?"
"10-4 Greyhound, go ahead."
"We're gonna peel off here and be Southbound and down, come on."
"10-4 Greyhound, y'all be careful, watch the smokies and we'll catch ya on the flip flop, ok?"
"10-4 Devil Dog, Listen, it's been a real pleasure breakin' bread with ya, we'd do it anytime, anywhere."
"Same here, same here," several others broke in.
"Well thank ya folks, same here, it's been a pleasure."
Up in the distance he saw he Coach turn off, a few other vehicles did too. Kurt layed on his horn as he drove by and waved goodby. he said a prayer for them.
So it was Jimmy and Chris in their vans, a couple of other vehicles, Frank and Margy and Kurt bringing up the rear, as they turned onto I-75 North and drove on.


Kurt's mind began to wander. He wondered what'd happend to the job back in Birmingham. He was sure it was shut down, if it was here at all, with the flooding and all. They'd probably have to tear it down to the structure and start over. He hadn't heard from his boss in Pensacola, but understood they got hit hard too. He hoped they's alright. He'd worked with them before he went in and after he got out, he went to project manager school. He handled a few jobs for them and made them lots of money( and made some himself), so he had a history with them. Two brothers, whose dad was a Glazier and they grew up in the business and inherited it after the dad and mom decided they'd rather be deep sea fishing and traveling. The dad stayed on as a consultant and that financed their retirement. The boys learned well and grew the business ( with Kurt's help) to take on bigger and bigger jobs. One brother took over small contracts, including walk in and auto and the other brother handled large contracts. This last job was the biggest and they were excited to see it get finished, but very disappointed with the Super. Kurt knew they'd only gotten one draw from it, but figured he was just over his head, this time. Kurt had made enough off the last job he did, that this wouldn't hurt him at all. Besides, he really does have a sweet deal: they pay him from the time he gets on the road to go do a job, 'til he gets back home. They pay salary, then for the room( usually a 3-4 star place that had Continental breakfasts and complimentary dinners at the bar, then he'd buy sandwich and fruit for lunches and eat in his truck) and $150/day per diem for food and a generous bonus if he gets the job in ahead of schedule and another for under budget. He loves his job and is very good at. He's not charging them time now, but he is using company credit card.


Then he thought about home. He wondered how the family was. How things were. He was pretty sure things were ok. He lucked into his place, a converted coal mine. They'd dug all the way into this mtn. They dug a main shaft,big enough to drive a compact car through( they're called 'mules'), right thru the middle of it at ground level. Then, in the middle of the shaft, they dug another shaft, 12'X12', straight up to the top of the mtn. Then along both shafts, they dug offshoot shafts, with a huge room at the end of each shaft. The offshoots were big enough for two people, holding hands, to walk through and the rooms were 20X40ft. Each offshoot was a different length, depending on where it was in the mtn.(horizontal, wider in themifddle, shorter each way. Verticle, longer at the bottom of the mtn, shorter as it went up). At the top of the mtn was all the offices, labs, lockers and restrooms. An elevator was installed in the main vertical shaft and would hold 10 men and all their gear. Lights were installed throughout.
The mine was played out and abandoned. Kurt's wife found the mine, as they wanted to build a BOL and get off the grid. They got the entire mine (which was the entire mtn) for $10k, in back taxes. The first thing they did was have an Engineer go in and test the integrity of the mine. They found it sound, as once the coal and sandstone was removed, solid rock is what remained and it was 12' thick between the levels They determined short of a 6 or more earthquake, it be fine.
The mine had it's own ventilation system, partially natural and partially mechanical, in the form of a big squirrel cage and duct pipe. Kurt had that all checked and fitted with HEPA filters.
They had all the electrical wiring brought up to code. They had the elevator refurbished, which is a mast climber manlift( a motor attached to the cage, that climbs up and down the single mast) and had a killswith installed at his house up top and a new, more efficient motor installed. The had the lights removed and had solar fiber optics and LEDs installed. He could light the entire mtn with one Halogen 12v headlight and a car battery.
They had removed the ground entrances to the mine and had the front one at ground level, that the grown over 'driveway' led to( there was a gate at the paved road 100yds down the hill, with a "no trespassing" sign), enlarged to a garage but had the door made to look like surroundings. The other was an escape route, with a steel door and the frame embedded in stone.
They left the top one, but left a facade of old boards and a sign "Do Not Enter" and behind that was a steel door, embedded in stone.
The offices and labs, etc, were converted into a house, with DC appliances and a fire place and fire stove and vents disbursed and difused down by the creek. Btw, the whole mtn maintains 75-78deg, all year.
A natural underground spring and snow melt off from the Blue Ridge and Smokey mtns provides the water- ice cold, crystal clear, but Kurt built a natural sand filter system, uphill and brand new pipe, buried below the freeze zone, to feed the water to the house. He had water turbines installed in the nearby creek, that provides all his electrical needs and they're hidden quite well, as he had diverted the creek partially, under cover, than ran 3 turbines and had room for 3 more, in sulleys( where he could contol the head) and back into the creek, with noone the wiser. All the wiring runs underground, below the freeze zone, to the house.
The sewage ran out into a 'holler' 100 yds below the mtn and composted right into the ground, under brush and brairs so thick, no man nor animal'd go.
It took Kurt and Elli 3 yrs and $100K to build their BOL, but now they lived there full time. They had supplies stocked in several rooms in the vertical shafts and the shafts at the the bottom were made into apartments for family and friends. They had hidden tiny cameras and motion detectors all over the mtn and down the hill and road 200 yds.
They'd leased pasture land, from a neighbor in the valley below, for a garden and livestock. They built a barn and corrals for the farmer and he was tickled to get it and gave them 5yrs free, for some of the 'spoils'. No problem.
"Breaker , breaker, CrackerDevilDog, we need to pull in for gas and lunch, go ahead."
"5150!!, Go ahead."
"5150?" asked Frank,"IS that what I think it is?"
"10-4 good buddy."
"OHHH, I'm too old for this ****!"
Everybody laughed as they pulled off at the Cleveland exit.

GeneCo

They pulled off of the Interstate and into one of those Filling Islands, with 10 pumps and canopies and stores with a fast food place in there and a big parking lot. There was a few folks there, but it didn't look open. They pulled up to some pumps and Kurt went in with the girls, who were headed to the bathroom.
"HI Kurt" said Dana.
"Hello Ladies, how're y'all?"
"Fine as wine!"said Cindy.
Tracy laughed out loud, Ronda frowned.
Kurt walked up to the cashier."Are the pumps up?"
"Yeah, but it's cash only and ya can only get 10 gal each and it's $5 a gallon."
"Do you have a ATM?"
"Yeah, but it's down."
Kurt took out $50 and layed it on the table."Number..."he had to look.
"The pickup next to the van?"
"Yes."
"ok."
Kurt went back out, over to the vehicles. "Cash only and 10 gal only and it's $5 a gallon."
"Damn, do they had a ATM?"
"Yeah but it's out."
"Damn, we don't have cash." said the man in the SUV.
"Well what do ya have?" asked Kurt.
"Waddaya mean?"
"I mean if you have something I want, I'll buy it off ya."
"Well all we got is our clothes and a little bit of food and water."
"And some jewelry." said his wife.
"Pamela, were' NOT selling our jewelry!" he snapped.
"Calm done, calm down, nobody's asking for your jewelry. I'm just trying to help ya out."
"OH, wait.."he said. Then he hurried to his Expedition, got in, fumbled around, then came out and back to Kurt. He held it out, It was a Crown Royal bag.
Kurt took it, it was heavy. He dumped some in his hand. Silver ingots.".999 pure silver" "100Troy oz."
"So whattaya say? One of those for a fill up?"
Kurt couldn't get the $50 out fast enough.


Right at that time about 20 motorcycles rode in. Obviously a club. The leader saw the women walking back to the vans and then saw the silver and stopped right at Kurt. The rest of them formed a semi-circle around him.
Kurt put his in his pocket and put the others back and handed the bag back
to the man and told him to put it back. He hurried to his SUV.
They shut off their bikes. "Hey folks, let's not make this any harder than has to be."said the biker leader.
"We don't want no trouble." said Kurt.
"We don't either, so just give us all that silver I just saw and while yer at it, all ya'll's jewelry and money......oh, and uh, those two pretty ladies there."
"Well, ya ain't gettin' it and only a rides bike and you're big and bad with that pack behind you, but can YOU fight, ?"
Several bikers stood up and started to swing off their bikes, when everyone heard a 12 ga shotgun rack....it was Frank and he'd flanked them. "Stay on yer bikes! I can take out half of ya before ya can get off yer bikes! Who wants to go first?!" They sat back down.
"Well, I'm gonna enjoy, takin you apart and then my 'pack' is gonna take all y'all." He stepped off his bike and rushed Kurt and tried to grab him.
Just what Kurt wanted him to do. Kurt simply sidestepped him, spun him around and got behind him, pulled his pistol, put it to his head and grabbed his belt in back and pulled hard, letting him know, he had command of his hips. He popped off a round on the ground in front of the biker( right next to his ear, 'causing him to flinch), it bounced off the pavement and hit his bike, oil started pouring out.
"You just made a big mistake."
"Shutup! OK, Now were gonna ride outta here and ya'll are gonna stay here! We're taking this piece of **** with us and we'll drop him off up the Interstate. Y'all wait ONE hour and then come and get him. If we see any of ya again, it'll be alot worse! OK, everybody get in yer vehicles! Jimmy, get my Remmy!"
"You got it boss!" He got the Remmy out, come up beside Kurt and pointed it at the pack. "Everybody get yer hands up!"
Everybody raised their hands.
"Jimmy, get this dog's knife." He had a huge Bowie on his belt. Jimmy got it."Ok, now, let down the tail gate and get in the back, up against the cab."
Jimmy let down the tailgate and started to climb in, when Ronda spoke up.
"Jimmy NO!! You have a family!"
"I'll do it!" said Frank.
"Honey, you be careful." said Margy. They kissed and Frank climbed in.
"Ok, you're gonna sit on the tail gate, facing the cab. Nice and easy."
He climbed onto the tailgate. Kurt grabbed his hips and pulled him back, right to the edge. "I'll fall off!"
"Then hold on, but don't move."
He grabbed on to the back of the sides.
"Frank, if he takes a hand off, shoot him."
"No problem."
"Jimmy, you hold on to that Remmy."
"10-4, Boss."
"Ok, let's roll! Y'all remember, ONE hour, not a minute less."
"We'll see you again hero!" said the second in command.
"You better hope not."
They pulled out, leaving the bikers there.



Frank had his shotgun trained on the biker.
"What, you been hurt old man?"
"Yeah, and it makes me just wanna shoot something! Now shut up!"
They pulled onto the I-75 and hammered down.
They passed the Hwy 39 to Athens. Kurt punched in the GPS and expanded it to see what was coming up. Ok, Hwy 68, "The Lost Sea Pike" to Sweetwater.
Kurt had an idea. "Breaker, Knoxville Knocker." He was lead.
"Go ahead DevilDog."
"Let's get off on Hwy 68 and gas up."
"10-4."
When Hwy 68 exit came up, Kurt pulled over and got out. "How's it goin'?"
"Oh, fair to midland." said Frank."What's up?"
"Well, we're gonna leave a note to where to pick up their 'leader'."
He found a manilla folder and a magic marker, in his 'briefcase' ( it's a leather flap top with a shoulder strap). He wrote" He's in Sweetwater". He found two nails and hammered the sign to a old wooden telephone pole with his K-bar.
"ok, here we go." He got in and pulled off the exit. He turrned onto the '68' but he didn't go turn left to go to Sweetwater. He turnd right to Niota.
"Breaker DevilDog, what's up?"
There was a Raceway, an Exxon and a BP.
"Oh, Y'all go in and gas up, We'll be with ya dierctly. We need to see a man about a dog."
"Tennn- fourrrr."


So they drove to Niota and dropped off the biker. Frank covered him with his 12ga and Kurt had him sit down, with his back against a metal fence post. He zip tied his hands, way up over his head, to the metal fence post and they drove off. They could see in the mirror he was kicking and screaming and cussin'. They just blew the horn and waved.
They drove back to where the other folks were and pulled in.
"Where the hell did ya'll go?' asked Jimmy.
Kurt told him, and the others who'd gathered, what him and Frank did.
"That should buy us plenty of time to get where we're goin'."
"Fine piece of work, Kurt." said Frank," If you ever decide to become a cop, let me know."
"Brilliant! That's why you're the Boss!" said Jimmy.
"I'm not the....oh never mind." said Kurt." Frank helped alot."
Everyone else voiced in the affirmative. Margy 'collected' Frank and took him back to their Crown Vic. "I need a drink." said Frank." Well, don't you worry Honey, we got some Johhny Walker waitin' for ya in the car."
"Ok, we need to gas up and and get on the road."
With that, Kurt walked in and went to the bathroom. Then payed for a top off( cash only, 10gal limit, $5 a gallon). 20 minutes later, they were back on the road.


Two hours later, they came over the hill to Knoxville and pulled over.
Kurt strapped on his gun belt, grabbed his binoculars and walked up.
He could see whole city and see that Knoxville was in shambles. Part of it was flooded, electric was out in most of the city. He saw military vehicles all around. Natl Guard had roads blocked off. Police had road blocks and checking folks' IDs. State troopers had a road block on the Interstate.
The sun was beginning to set.....

GeneCo

Kurt walked to Frank's car, the other drivers gathered.
"Man, we got us a 'situation', said Kurt.
"Damn Straight." said Jimmy." Man, I gotta get in there and see if my folks're ok."
"Can ya call 'em?' asked Kurt, checking his own cell phone.
"Nope, no service."
"Same here."
"Well, we gotta get in there."
"Well, Im just passing thru on my way home." said Kurt." Way I see it, I can go up I-75, go thru the (Cumberland) gap, or go up to Kings port and cross into Ky."
"Where ya headed?" asked Frank.
"Big Rock Mtn" said Kurt.
"Oh Yeah, that tells me alot!"
"About 90 miles East of I-75 at Williamsburg."
"That's better." said Frank," Well, we came out here to see our daughter and her family, so we need to see how they are."
"Yeah, this is our home, we gotta get home." Said the other folks.
"Ok, look, I think I can get us thru local cops. We've been coming here for years and they all know me." Said Frank.
"Ok, it looks like local LE are patrolling the local roads, so if we can get on them and stay on 'em, we may get thru."
"Well, Marshall Dillon, you need to stash that gun belt." Said Frank," Matter of fact, we need to hide all weapons. They'll probably want to search, but as long as it's not laying right out in the open, we should be ok."
"Ok, so Frank, you'll take the lead?"
"Yep."
With that, everybody went back their vehicles.
Kurt took off his gunbelt and press checked the pistol, stuck it in his waistband and put the gunbelt in his case with the Remmy, got in and put away the binoculars. He said a little prayer that they get thru.



Frank pulled out and Jimmy and Chris pulled out behind him and then the others and then Kurt. They got off at the first exit. State troopers had a road block just past the exit. Down at the bottom of the ramp, local cops had a road block. A transport truck full of Natl guard drove by. Kurt could see the cops with their flashlights, 'cover' Frank's car. Frank held out his badge and they stood and talked to him for awhile. The cops shined their lights in the back seat and walked back to Jimmy's van. They all got out and the cop shined his light into the van and then motioned them to gte back in. This happened all they way back. The cop walked up the Kurt, who'd already rolled his window down.
"Good evening Sir, Are you with them?" He shined his light into the cab and around the back.
" Yes Sir, been riding with Frank from Birmingham."
"He's a card, huh? Old School. We need more like him."
"Absolutely."
"You got folks here in town?"
" No sir, I'm just passing thru on my home to Ky. I's working in Birmingham and that's where I met Frank."
"Well, y'all drive safe, there's alot of flooding and power lines down."
"Frank needs to find out how his daughter is"
"Well, we can send a unit over and check on her."
"Yeah? Let me call him."
"Go ahead."
"Breaker, LawDawg, this is the CrackerDevilDog."
"Go Ahead, DevilDog."
"The officer here says they can send a unit over and check on yer daughter."
After a brief silence,"10-4, we need a powwow."
""10-4, Devildog out." to the cop,"Is that ok?"
"Sure, the less vehicles on the road right now, the better."
So Kurt got out and walked up front to Frank. Jimmy and Chris got out and walked up.
"Frank, they'll send a unit over to your Daughter."
"How 'bout our folks?"
"We can send a unit to your folks, too." said the cop.
"Well, we live here and we just wanna get home." said the other folks.
"Where do ya'll live?" They told him. "Ok, y'all can go on, just be careful."
They pulled out and went on. So it was Frank, Jimmy, Chris and Kurt.
Frank, Jimmy and Chris gave the cops their info and they radioed for units to go check.
The news was the same- noone home, houses damaged, flooded, no sign of humans.
After much grief, Kurt spoke up, "Ok, y'all can come home with me."
"Sorry, man, but I need to find out what happened, I need to find my folks." said Jimmy.
"Officer, where can we get gas?" asked kurt.
"There's a gas station open 100 yds down this street." he replied, pointing.
They all pulled into the gas station.......

hero4you69

Thanks for the story . not all Tennessee bike riders are bad some of us are the good guys and I rode the tail of the dragon at deals gap again on groundhog day 2 weeks ago . good post on homestead too.

S-R-S

GeneCo

LOL, and not all folks who ride in the back of little pickups, nor who drive "patchwork " Cadillacs, nor rednecks in offroad PU are bad either, but I just wanted to show that there's danger on the road.

drbub22

Great story! Thanks for writing that. I really enjoyed it.

Warthog

Thanks for a good read. Dang now you got me hooked!Does Kurt make it home?

GeneCo

Yes he does( wait 'til you 'see' his place)........this will be an ongoing story. ;)

LausDeo

Good story, excited to read more

Warthog

Outstanding! Can't wait!

Thanks again for an entertaining read!

GeneCo

State Troopers and Local PD had vehicles parked around the parimeter of the gas station, all with lights on. An Ambulance was there.

They all pulled in, it was packed. All lanes backed up a 6-7 vehicles, folks yelling, folks milling around. There were cops standing at the pumps, telling everyone to settle down and reminded them of the 5 gal limit. There was a quickly made sign that said 5 gal limit, cash only. Kurt got in one line, Jimmy in another. Frank pulled over by the dumpster and Chris pulled over by air pump. Kurt saw Chris get out of his van and raise the hood and saw smoke pouring out of it."That's not good ", He said to himself.
Frank walked up to Kurt.
How's is going, Frank? How's that arm?"
"Well, as good as can be. I ain't feelin' no pain. Margie has me on some pills that makes sure of that. What's wrong with Chris?"
They both looked over.
"I don't know, he's got smoke pouring out."
"Well that's not good."
"Listen, we gotta part ways here, son. We gotta get to our daughter. I know half these guys and they're gonna help us find our daughter."
Kurt got out, "Are you sure? Well, 'course you are. Let me say good-bye to Marge."
With that they both walked over to Frank's car. Marge got out and had a tear in her eyes. Kurt hadn't expected that and got a lump in his throat.
Frank walked over to Chris's van.
"Kurt, thankyou so much for getting us here", said Marge as she hugged Kurt." Thanks for all you did for Frankie and me."
"No, thank YOU. Y'all did more for me. I couldn't've done it without you and Frank."
With that she hugged Kurt even harder and reached up and kissed him on the cheek.
"We're gonna miss you and we'll keep you in our minds and hearts and prayers. You tell that family of yours about us and tell them we love them."
"I will and we'll keep you and Frank in ours."
Frank walked back over " That motor is shot. Looks like he got an oil leak and burned it up, it's locked up tighter'n Dick's hatband."
"Frankie!"
"Well it is!"
A local PD pulled up, "You ready, Frank?"
"Yep." With that he shook Kurts hand. "You take care of yourself. They'll give ya'll safe passage to the Interstate, but then you're on yer own."
"Frank, I...."
"Now, Son, I'm not good with good-byes, so let's just shake hands and ........."
Kurt squeezed Frank's hand harder and fought back a welling in his eyes."Take care, Frank, it's been good knowin' ya."
"Same here." With that he got into the car and Margie started it up and followed the Officer.
Kurt stood and watched them drive away. He waved, not knowing if they saw him or not. Then he walked over to Chris. "How's it going?"
"Aww, it's shot." replied Chris.
"So what are you gonna do?"
" I don't know, we can't afford a new motor."
Kurt saw his line moving and cars behind him. "Well, I gotta go get gas. we'll figure something out."
"Did Frank and them leave?"
"Yeah, they gotta find their daughter."
With that, Kurt walked in and paid and then to his truck, got in and pulled up. He felt really sad. He said a prayer that Frank and Margie would find their daughter and would be ok.
The line moved quickly, but not quick enough for Kurt.
Jimmy's line moved faster and he gased up and pulled over to Chris.
Kurt pulled up to the pump and got out to gas up. The cop asked him, "Where you headed tonite?"
"Well, we's wanting to get on I-75 and head North to Ky."
"Y'all was with Frank, right?"
"Yes sir."
" He told us what y'all been thru."
"Yeah, it's been an ordeal."
"Alright, we'll get ya to I-75, but then you're on your own."
"Thanks."
"Let me know when you're ready to pull out and we'll call an escort." He turned to a irate man,"Alright sir, calm down, 5 gal limit."
Kurt gassed up and pulled over to them.
"So what's up?" Asked Jimmy, "Did Frank leave?"
"Yep, they wanna get home to their daughter. What's up with the van?"
"Man, it's trashed, dried up, burned up, locked up"
"So what are y'all gonna do?"
"Well, we're gonna have to double up and hole up somewhere."
"Ok, let me see." with that Kurt walked over to the Officer he talked to. He told him about the van and asked if there was somewhere they could camp for the night. The cop told him of a place behind a old tire shop just down the road. Said they could pull around back and camp in a clearing and they'd have a patrol by every hour or so. Kurt thanked him and walked back to the vans as they were transferring things from Chris' van to Jimmy's van.
"Well, the cops said we can camp out behind a old tire shop down the road."
"Sounds, good, then we can figure out what to do tomorrow."
With that they finished loading and were ready to go. They all got in Jimmy's van and followed Kurt down the road.
The tire shop came up all of a sudden and looked run down and kinda scary. There was old tires stacked against an old garage, that looked like it'd been a gas station, way back when.
Kurt pulled in and around the garage and back to a clearing, with shade trees spread around.
"This'll do"
They all got out and the men began unloading the gear. The women began unpacking food and blankets and folding chairs.
Kurt cleared and area and gathered some wood and made a fire. Things picked up. The oldest kids sat around the fire, the younger ones were asleep.
Kurt helped Jimmy and Chris set up the tents. Ther was very little talk. Everybody was tired and Chris was worried about his van.
The women set up a table and began making hamburgers, working patties on paper plates.
Jimmy unfolded a folding camp grate and placed it over the fire. He took the plate of burgers and put the burgers on the grill.
Everyone realized how hungry they were.
A familiar tune was coming out of the van.
"I will sail my vessel, 'til the river runs dry."
Tracy ran to the van, crying. Chris followed.
Everyone looked tired.
Kurt said, " Look, let's all eat and get a good nights sleep. Things will look better tomorrow."
They ate without talking, mesmerized by the flames.
Afterwards, Kurt excused himself and went to his truck.
He was asleep before he layed his head down.