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

“I know,” he replied. “But when words like, the greater good, start getting tossed around, it’s a short trip to Marxism.”

I stopped and turned to face him. “What we are doing is so far from that twisted logic as to not even be on the same plane. We’re simply trying to save this community, lives. What we did yesterday was for the greater good. We handed out food. We try to provide some semblance of order. But we’re not forcing it on anybody. Everyone is free to stay or go. Participate or not. I don’t give a shit either way.”

“And I’m with you on that. But those other systems, they exist because those men believed it was easier to achieve their idea of community through force. And in a way, it is. It removes responsibility from the individual; and in times like this, people will willingly accept it. I just want to make sure you know how easy that is. How fast people will beg for it.”

“You don’t have to tell me. Just look at what the country was like before this happened. Decadence is the last stage of a crumbling empire,” I laughed, “and we are a hell of a long way from decadence at the moment.”

Sarge pinched his nose and blew a snot rocket into the dirt. “Damn straight. We’ll get a full accounting out of him tonight,” he looked back over his shoulder into the garage. “I don’t think we need anything from the Cubans. They’ll just say they were soldiers following orders.”

“And they are. But they’re invading soldiers on a sovereign nation’s land. They can swing with him. But, that’s up to you. Micha is a civilian and Mitch and I will deal with him. They are soldiers and therefore your problem, so you can sort out what’s right for them.”

“It’s the same in the end,” the old man replied as he arched his back, stretching it. “The rope.”

I left them to their work and headed back towards the house. As I walked, I plucked the mic from my plate carrier and called, “Hey, Shane.”

In a moment, he responded. “What is it, Morgan?”

“You still have that Jap’s body?”

“Yeah, we’re getting ready to bury him now.”

“Don’t. Bring him to the park tomorrow.”

He didn’t hesitate in his reply, probably relieved he didn’t have to dig the grave in the heat. “No problem. I’ll have him there.”

“How’s it going? People still grumbling?”

“There’s still a lot of talk that the Army did it on purpose. But Cecil got a lot of them calmed down. Something more needs to be done though or it’s going to get out of hand.”

“We’re going to do something tomorrow that should take care of it.”

“Okay, good. We’ll see you tomorrow.”

As I continued towards the house, I thought of what needed to be accomplished. Of course, the service in the morning was weighing heavy on my mind. I’d never considered the possibility of having to bury one of the women in my life. It may be Bobbie this time, and that’s horrible, but it could have just as easily been Mel. And that thought was one I couldn’t bear. But there was one small project I could work on that would keep my mind off things.

As I passed the shop, I saw the roll-up door open and could hear someone inside, so I wandered over to see who was in there. I found Thad working on a piece of wood sitting on two sawhorses. He had a chisel in hand and was carving into its face. I stepped up and looked over his shoulder. He didn’t pause his work, simply asked, “What do you think?”

I put my hand on his shoulder and replied, “I think it’s really nice. Danny will appreciate it.”

Thad laid the chisel down and took up a small propane torch and lit it. He ran the flame back and forth over the words he’d carved, charring them to a deep black. The rest of the wood, he singed to a light brown. I helped him for a bit as we fit the two pieces together. He had the idea of drilling through the back of one into the back of the top piece and fitting a dowel. Using some wood glue, we clamped the two pieces together for the glue to dry.

“I think everyone will appreciate it,” I said. “It’s a nice cross.”

Thad looked at the cross and said, “I wanted to build her a casket. But it would take a lot of wood and more time than we have.”

I patted his back. “I think the body bag will have to suffice for now.” I nodded at the cross, “This will give everyone something to look at and remember her.”

“I’m going to varnish it, I think,” Thad said as he inspected his work.

“Sounds good,” I nodded. “I’ve got a couple of things I want to do. I’ll see you later.”

“Thanks for the help.”

I nodded as I left him to finish his monument. Both sad and noble at the same time. The dogs were lolling in the driveway when I came through the gate. Their tongues hung from their mouths into the dirt and pine needles as they tried to cool themselves. They must have been out running after something. I stopped to scratch heads and pat flanks. Their tails thumped the round, kicking up small clouds of dust. I envied them. To be a dog and have no concern, let alone knowledge of the bigger powers at play around them. Most people didn’t look twice at a dog today. Unless they were hungry of course. Then, being a dog could be a real liability.

I went over to the old Suburban. It was covered in leaves and pine needles and looked as though it’d been sitting there for years when it’d only been a couple of weeks. I popped the hood and looked at the two batteries. I wanted to try to restore them. Even if