Free Not Dead in the Heart of Dixie by R Kralik Page B

spot for anything that's non-essential so we'll have room for our loot if we ever get the chance to go. The attic’s getting full. I hope it doesn't fall in on us.
    We're having an early supper tonight. Mick has the pork roast we took from Caleb's house on the grill. We'll make cornbread muffins in Nana's motorhome oven and heat up some of my home canned carrots and red baby potatoes on her stove top.
    For dessert, we'll have a loaf of zucchini bread that I baked and froze a couple of months ago. I'll let it thaw in the motorhome 'cause I think it's too cold in the house to get it completely thawed. I might put it on the hearth , near the fire.
    We can snack on the remainder of the loaf or a bowl of popcorn if we get hungry later in the evening.
    Mick and Pop headed to town hall to try for one of the tanker trucks before we eat. We found out that Pop has experience driving a big rig but it was a long time ago. He says it'll be like riding a bike and it'll probably come right back to him. I'm in charge of watching the pork roast while they're gone.
    Jaso n's quiet today. I wonder what’s bothering him. He's in the deer stand again. I'll bet he needs to look for his son. He's been watching Caleb play with hot wheels cars and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle figures. Yep, I'm pretty sure that he needs to find his son.
    We'll have another family meeting tonight and plan to go out tomorrow, good Lord willing, to start our looting. We'll probably head to the pharmacies first, then food places, and then Lowe's if we have time and all goes well.
    Hopefully, Mick and Pop will be able to get one of the tankers this afternoon.
    Nana's plans to make muffins for us to take as "breakfast on the run." we'll have coffee, Gatorade, juice, or water in our thermoses. That woman has endless energy. .
    I'm going out to the living room and get into a game of "Go Fish" with Amber. I might write more tonight, or I might not. It depends on whether the generator is running and if I feel like it. I'm not writing anything out by hand tonight.
    I wanna sleep in the room with Carisa tonight. I'm missing her, even though she is right here in the house. I want to make sure she's staying strong and able to deal with the position we find ourselves in.
    3:30 PM...
    I heard a horn tootin' really close to the house and rushed to the front door to see the beautiful vision of a big tanker truck coming up the driveway with my favorite Chevy S10 following. We have a tanker truck! I'll have my computer and foot heater, and we can keep the 'fridge running for a while.
    Pop parked the tanker behind the house. Mick says it isn't full, but it's pretty close to three-quarters. It's the flavor we need to run the vehicles and the generator. Woo hoo!
    They found four 20lb propane tanks, so Pop can sleep in the motorhome and we can use the propane grill.
    Mick said there's another tanker truck there, and they think it has diesel fuel. They'll try to get it in the morning before we go looting. We'll park it in the front yard because the back is getting a little crowded. Mick says he'll put it up against the tree-line and cover it with camo netting and tree branches. We don't have any smaller diesel vehicles , but we can loot some!
     
    9:00 PM...
    Jason and Marisa moved the rest of their clothing and food up from the trailer while Pop was parking and admiring the monster tanker. They left all the furniture and non-essential things. We have plenty of furniture here and at Caleb's house, but we could use another bed or two. I just don't know where we'd put them.
    Amber and Caleb are already asleep on pallets in front of the fireplace. I had them put the pallets a good distance back, just in case a spark was to jump out and ignite a fire. We have the screen up, but anything is possible. Carisa says she'll sleep on the couch out there tonight, because it's cold in her bedroom.
    We h eld our meeting and decided that, while Pop and Mick head out before dawn tomorrow to try for the