Conflicted Home (The Survivalist Book 9) by A American (learn to read books TXT) 📕

my head. “No. We didn’t tell him about it. We also got a load of fuel. Between that and the ammo, he should be happy.”

Aric snickered, “You forgot about the Stryker.”

“You got a Stryker too!” Terry shouted.

“Yeah, the one with the cannon on it,” Aric replied with a laugh.

“Sheffield will definitely like that,” Scott added.

“I don’t think it’s for him,” I replied. “I think the old man is going to keep it. He said he had something for Sheffield if he showed his ass. Not sure what he meant by that, but he has no plans of giving up the tank.”

Scott let out a whistle. “That’s going to go over like a fart in church.”

I shrugged. “I don’t much give a shit. It’s between him and the old man. We’re dealing with the food, making up bags to hand out.”

“We’ll be sure to be in town tomorrow for the show,” Terry said.

“Alright, guys. We’re going to head to the ranch. Y’all need anything?” I asked.

“Naw, we’re good. Thanks,” Scott replied.

“Alright, we’ll see you guys tomorrow.”

Aric and I got back in the truck and made the quick trip back to the ranch. As we passed the Umatilla market, there was a bit of a crowd gathered. It looked as though word was starting to spread about the food. I was sure it was spreading like wildfire. We’d have to be careful with this as it could get out of hand fast.

When we got back, the progress that had been made was impressive. There were piles of bags tied up and waiting. We unloaded the bags we’d collected from Publix and they were immediately put to use. A couple of feed scoops had been found and cleaned and were being used to scoop the flour, beans and rice into a bag that would be tied up and dropped into another bag.

There was an assembly line of sorts where the bags would be passed from person to person and additional items were added. There was a separate line putting together bags with hygiene products. It was efficient and getting done quickly. Danny and Thad were putting the bags in the back of the truck with the help of some of the Guardsmen.

Everyone was upbeat and in good spirits, with an air of excitement to the whole process. Aric wandered over to help Fred, who was putting together bags for babies and mothers. As she was dropping a pack of diapers into a bag, she said, “We need to get some of these too. We’re going to need them.”

Mel wasn’t far from her and replied, “Don’t worry about those. I have a bunch of cloth diapers that I used for the girls.”

Fred looked up, “That would be great. I know we won’t have enough of these. It’s so sweet of you.”

Mel stood up and wiped her forehead with the back of her gloved hand, “They’re not doing me any good. You may as well use them.”

With this process well under way with plenty of help, I told Mel I was going to work on another project. There was plenty that needed to be done. I stopped by the water keg and got a drink. It was so hot out, you needed water, and this was ice cold. It hurt my teeth, but I relished it and drank until I couldn’t hold anymore. I thought about Alex, who’d we met earlier. I could only imagine what this heat was like for him. I was born in it and hated it, but at least I was accustomed to dealing with it.

And it was the heat that was on my mind. I took the little red truck to the house. It still had the lenses from the light fixtures in the bed and I needed them for my project. I pulled around behind the house and parked by the shop and carried a couple of the lenses inside. The girls had collected bags and bags of two-liter bottles. I went around to the front of the house and grabbed one and carried it back.

The lenses were almost two-foot by four-foot. I went to the house and measured one of the windows, as this would fit into the bottom open half. With that measurement in hand, I went to the shop to cut one down. The lens would sit on its side, giving me a two-foot-high area to work with.

I took my skill saw and removed the blade, turned it around backwards, and put it back on. This was a way to cut the plastic without it shattering when the teeth hit it. After cutting the lens down, I measured a bottle and decided to have six across and four down, twenty-four bottles per lens. I could put one more on either side, but I wanted to make as many units as possible. The neck of each bottle was about 7/8ths of an inch, which was perfect because I had a paddle bit that could drill the holes.

Using a framing square, I laid out the grid on the lens for the holes and drilled one to make sure it would fit. The bottle fit through easily and I proceeded to drill the rest of them out. With the lens done, it was time to prepare the bottles. I needed to cut the bottom off of them; and having so many to do, I needed an easy way to do it.

I took a couple pieces of scrap two-by-four I found under the bench and screwed them together at a right angle. Then I decided how long I wanted the bottles to be and made a mark on the longer of the two pieces. Taking a utility razor blade, I hammered it into the wood at the mark. Now, all I had to do was lay the bottle into the L created by the boards, push it against the blade until it pierced the bottle, and rotate it to cut the bottom off. It was fast and made a perfect