Chapter 25

We traveled into new country, for us, on the way to Alamo. As much as I had traveled before the Day, it amazed me at how little we traveled now. The need to preserve gas and to work the farm kept us local and busy. We reported in to George via two-meter radio. We had set up an evening time to check-in and George had made us a beam type antenna to concentrate our signal to the repeater as we moved further from Protection.

As usual, the country was empty. When we traveled from Nashville, it surprised me when we saw how few people had survived. It still amazed me. The United States had many areas with low population density before the Day. Now, the world had a low population density everywhere. We saw many good farms that were showing neglect. The one thing we had found was that the deer had multiplied dramatically. In the last year, getting a deer was an every day occurrence and, as a farmer, I appreciated the effort to thin their ranks. They ate my crops.

Animals grazing our crops were a bad problem for us more than some of the others. We had chosen a farm on the fringe of Protection and, only in the last year, had people moved in close to us. We were still far from surrounded. With Charles, I had worked the fields of almost three farms. We had lots of elbowroom. I liked that because we had a pond close to the house and Pam and I enjoyed skinny-dipping. Charles and Melissa had joined in that which activity led to our finding out about their love for each other and, eventually, their and us sharing a love for all. Swimming had become an erotic exercise. Neither of our ladies were inhibited and, now that we were official, I suspected they would be less so.

Pam was riding with me this morning and said, "Robby, pull your gun. Let's have some fresh venison tonight." I saw movement to our left and was alert for animals hoping for a deer. I didn't get a deer but it was good that I did. A few minutes later, dogs attacked us from the left. The others grabbed for guns as I began to shoot the lead dogs in the attack. We had suffered from these attacks before and knew that they must be repulsed quickly or you risk being hurt and they could be bearers of disease. My rifle was good for deer. It was still more an anti-personnel weapon than useful for hunting. I could set it for single shots and that's where it stayed most of the time. I picked off four before Pam and then Charles and Melissa joined in. We quickly thinned the ranks of the pack. Few retreated. We continued on leaving them where they lay. I wondered why we were attacked. Dogs usually didn't attack unless they were hungry or diseased. These didn't look diseased. Game was plentiful and deer were better than humans and horses. As we passed, I noticed that some of the dogs were skinny. That was even more curious. I marked it off to another issue to think on later.

We continued on and, just as we were entering Alamo, I saw and shot a deer. That was rare. Deer were usually everywhere and I hadn't seen any but that one.

We found an empty house in Alamo and moved in for the night. We had found a farmhouse with a good barn. I wanted to close the horses up tonight and the barn would allow that. We let them graze while we prepared and ate supper but moved them all inside the barn and closed it up for the night. The house had a nice screened-in porch overlooking the fields and we were sitting around digesting supper and enjoying the night air. It was habit for me to scan the area. Our cooking fire was to one side and shed some light out. I saw eyes, many eyes. They even moved! Eyes that reflected light that way usually meant felines and we had many eyes and they were big eyes suggesting big cats. I said, "Folk, it's time we went inside. We have company, lots of company."

Melissa said, "What do you mean, Robby?"

The eyes came closer and I said, "Everyone, inside now, quickly and quietly." Melissa and Charles were wide-eyed but moved led by Pam. I took rear guard and closed the door firmly behind us. I said, "There are big, glowing eyes around us. Big eyes mean big animals. Glowing eyes mean felines. I could feel the presence of heavy bodies moving quietly. I think I know why the dogs attacked and why we didn't see any more deer."

Melissa said, "What is it?"

I said, "We have surmised that zoo workers would release their animals rather than have them starve to death. In Memphis, the zoo was mostly empty and all signs pointed to the animals being released by their keepers.

"When I looked out, I saw lots of eyes. Large glowing eyes mean big cats. Those are big eaters and they could clean out an area. They would also displace other predators. I think they were drawn by the fire and by the smell of fresh meat.

"Lovie, we'll go out tomorrow and look around but I think tracks will confirm my thinking. We will have to stay clear of potential traps and be on alert for the big cats. It takes a big bore rifle to stop them. I have one but I don't think we have any others with us. We'll have to be on the lookout for a gun store or pawnshop or some other place that sells guns.

"For now, we'll go to bed. Take a pistol with you. Fire up first. We want to scare them away. If you hit it, you'll probably just make it mad."

They were polite not mentioning the fact that I slept with a loaded forty-five under my pillow every night.

I looked out twice and it was only with the dawn that the eyes faded. We rose early at first real light and Pam and I went outside to inspect the tracks. My count was ten or twelve large cats had watched outside the house. We had a quick breakfast and left. I carried a different rifle today and we all looked for a gun shop as we traveled. By the end of the day, we reached Dyersburg and found another house with an enclosed barn. We were making better time because the wagon was light had had truck tires and good axles. It rolled easily and the horses pulling it didn't plod.

Charles and Pam watched over the horses with my rifle while Melissa and I went into town. We found a pawnshop and then a gun shop. We went to the gun shop first. It had been raided but I found two good rifles with ammunition. Then, we went into the pawnshop and found two more, one with a scope. We found more ammunition and took everything we figured to need. I added two shotguns to our arms with heavy pellets. They might not kill a big cat but they would stop it long enough for a rifle bullet to finish the job. At least, I hoped so. I liked shotguns any way. They were great close-in weapons.

When we returned, we boarded up the barn and retired to the house. Charles and Pam had started supper while waiting for us and the smells were tantalizing. We washed up and all four of us sat down to eat an enjoyable meal. The house had an open porch that allowed us to see the barn and we sat out there and cuddled. As the light faded, the night remained quiet and no eyes appeared. I wasn't unhappy to not have the eyes though wasn't sure what that might mean.

We went to bed looking forward to a new day. We could still hit the repeater and George cautioned us that our first job was to survive and return. I grinned to hear my words.

In the morning, we rose after a quiet night, had breakfast, and hitched the wagon. Melissa would handle it today and Pam would ride with her. I was the only one who didn't have wagon duties. I felt and the others agreed that my skills were better employed as point and scout.

We were looking forward to crossing into Missouri today if the bridge was good. We went over it on I-155 and both lanes were good. I could see that the upriver side might not last much longer because there were some boats and barges already loose and hanging around one of the pylons. We were making good time. That was good because Hayti was the longest single day's travel on this part of our trip so far. It was late afternoon when we arrived.