“Sure,” Tammy said. Working her normal job and cooking for everyone was typical for her.
Grant said, “That’s a good point, too. I’m sure we’ll all pitch in with whatever we need to. I, for one, don’t have any specific duties. I’ll just make sure all the other stuff gets done, but I’ll be working on these things from dawn until dusk. Is everyone OK with me having that role?” Grant figured the Morrells and Colsons would be OK with him running things since he brought the Team to protect them. The Team would be OK with it because Grant brought them to Pierce Point. His family would be OK with it because they were his family.
More general nodding of heads.
“We don’t have a washing machine at my cabin,” Grant said. “Could we do laundry at the Morrells or Colsons?”
“We have fewer people using our machine so we could do it,” Mary Anne said. Tammy nodded.
“The Team’s cabin has a washer and dryer so you guys can do your own laundry,” Grant said. “Don’t be lazy bachelors.”
That brought up a good point. People feeling like others weren’t doing enough. It wasn’t a problem now, but it could be over time. Especially with so many people who didn’t really know each other.
“If anyone has a concern about their duties or other people’s, let me know,” Grant said. “No, seriously, let me know. Even if you think I’m not pulling my weight. We’ll all be helping everyone and I’d like it to be as smooth as possible.”
Grant realized he was making it sound like they were in a work camp. So he said, “Hey, we won’t be working all the time. We are out here in a beautiful place and our day jobs, except Tammy’s, have been put on hold. This is a vacation in a sense. We have to do things we normally didn’t have to, like hunt, can food, and guard our neighborhood. But we can still have lots of fun. I think this might actually be relaxing once we get into the swing of it.”
Grant looked at Lisa. She wasn’t fully going for it. She was expressionless again. Not that she disagreed with Grant, she was just waiting to see if this really would be a “vacation.”
Grant continued, “Beach walks, campfires, playing board games, getting to know each other. This could be decent.”
Grant had to close this by tying everything together. “This beats the heck out of what most people in town are having to go through.” More nodding.
He even saw a slight nod from Lisa.
Chapter 80
My Husband Got Himself in a Little Trouble
(May 8)
The first meeting of the Over Road people, as Grant was calling the group out at the cabin, went well. He had a plan, and the group agreed with his approach. He was very proud that things seemed to be going well. So far.
At first, he was surprised that these strangers were working so well together and seemed to understand that things had fundamentally changed. He thought about it and realized there were two reasons why this was true. First, the new arrivals, like Lisa, had seen with their own eyes how things had broken down; riding in an armed convoy tends to prove to a person that things aren’t like they used to be. Second, most of the people there, like the Colsons, Morrells, and the Team, were preppers. They weren’t surprised that everything they’d been planning for was coming true.
After the business of the meeting was done, Grant patted his tummy, which was flat because he was in the best shape of his life, and said, “I’m hungry.” Manda brought him a big plate of pancakes, which smelled delicious.
Everyone was talking with each other. There was a friendly buzz in the air. They were still getting to know each other, as the introductions the night before were rather brief.
After he ate, Grant said to Lisa, “So I’ll go into town and get the ‘feminine products’ and other things.”
Lisa looked scared. She shook her head. She knew something he didn’t know.
“You don’t want me to get those things?” Grant asked. He was relieved.
“No, honey,” she said. “We need to talk.” She motioned for him to come into the bedroom.
This seemed pretty serious. Grant followed.
She whispered, “Grant, you can’t go into town.” She was searching for the words. She might as well just tell him.
“Um, you’re on a list of ‘terrorists,’” she said. “It’s called the ‘Persons of Interest’ list. ‘POI’ for short. It’s one step down from a wanted list. They say they just want to talk to you. Nancy Ringman told me you were on it. I looked it up myself; it is true. It says you work for the Washington Association of Business and something about ‘Rebel Radio,’ whatever that is.”
Oh, shit. At first, Grant thought Lisa was kidding, but he hadn’t told her about Rebel Radio so she must have got that from looking on the internet.
Grant was initially stunned, but then he wasn’t. He knew that it was only a matter of time before this corrupt government of bullies did this. It’s what collapsing governments always did.
Grant didn’t know what to say. He thought he was in trouble when he killed those looters, but this was worse. He assumed he had to lay low because the cops would find out he was WAB and perhaps not give him the benefit of the doubt on his self-defense. His court cases for WAB had taught him that “conservatives” often don’t get a fair shake in the current so-called “justice” system.
Grant didn’t know what to say. He was on a terrorist watch list. What is there to say?
“I’m sorry, honey,” he said finally. “I’m sorry I’m causing you and the kids trouble like this.” It was quiet for a while in the bedroom. Outside, people were talking and having a great time.
“I wish it hadn’t happened, but it’s not your fault,” Lisa said finally. Whoa. That surprised Grant.
“I can see what’s going on,” Lisa said. “People like Nancy Ringman.” Lisa proceeded to tell Grant the story about how Nancy had thrown Cole to the ground.
Grant was not mad. Sure, he didn’t like what Nancy had done, but he knew that he couldn’t just march over to her house and punch her in the mouth. Besides, she was far away. She couldn’t hurt them out there.
Lisa finished the story by saying, “Now I get what they’re all about. They’re crazy. They hate anyone who crosses them. So it’s not your fault.”
She added, “You know, when Cole screamed, ‘Why are you hurting us?’ it got me thinking. Why are they hurting us? They’re crazy and desperate. It’s not your fault.”
Wow. Thank God that’s what she thought.
“The government can’t even keep the power on all the time or the internet up. They can’t put out fires or stop protestors and looters. I don’t think they can start finding the people on their list.” Grant was half serious, half trying to calm Lisa.
“Yeah,” Lisa said. “That’s probably right. Anyway, you can’t go into town. Not until things calm down and we can clear all of this up.”
That was a surprisingly positive way to look at this. Maybe she wasn’t suffering from as much normalcy bias as Grant had thought. Or maybe, the Nancy Ringman thing had changed her. Either way, Grant was glad that Lisa was back on his side.
“OK, I won’t go into town,” Grant said. Then he thought of a new problem. “How do we tell your parents this? They’ll probably be disappointed that their daughter married a terrorist.” They both started laughing, and couldn’t stop. It was a release from all the emotion.
“I’ll have to tell them,” Lisa said. “Should we tell everyone out here?”
“Good question,” Grant said. “I’ll have to think about that. I trust all of them, but I don’t want to freak them out,” he said. “Oh, wait. They’ll probably read it on the internet, anyway. Crap. We should probably just tell them.” This sucked. Then Grant had an idea.