Free Renewal 6 - Cold by Jf Perkins

process much, but he said just about everyone wishes that he could.”
    “Well, the good news, I guess, is that since the Dragon showed up out of nowhere, he doesn’t have too many friends in Murfreesboro. The bad news is that he showed up out of nowhere, which means the State is blind in his territory. He could have ten thousand men ready to fight and we wouldn’t know it. If we had some time, I’d send Kirk down there to find out, but things are moving too fast. I need everyone close to home.” Bill sighed heavily. There was never enough time, resources, or manpower.
    “What’s next, Bill?” Terry asked.
    Bill focused on Seth. “Big Seth, how did our boy do?” he asked, jerking his head towards Terry.
    “He’s a good talker, Boss. Real good. Heck, he talked me into letting him drive.” Seth made everything sound like fun.
    “Ok. In that case, I want you two to jump into Big Bertha and head into Manchester to help Dusty do some talking. Make a show of it. The word’s out on us, so now we want to look as strong as possible. The only thing to keep quiet is our location. We need to save that secret as long as we can. Otherwise, we’ll get overrun by too many people to feed and organize. Hopefully, we can feed them with the aid shipments, while we make our case.”
    “Yes, sir. Can I talk to my folks?”
    “Absolutely. Make sure you give them some food, but tell them to stay put. Soon enough, they’ll be in the safest part of the county,” Bill said. “If you get Manchester moving in the right direction, I want you to head over to Tullahoma, and see if you can drum up some support. Seth, you’ve got some people there, right?”
    “A few, Boss. Don’t know how much use they’ll be, though. Might be better if we just pretend they don’t exist.”
    “I know what you’re saying, Seth, but when this thing is over, assuming we come out on top, we’ll have to deal with them anyway. It might work better if Tullahoma owes us a favor.”
    “Gotcha, Boss,” Seth replied, nodding.
    “Ok, men. I’m really starting to miss that dang old room of mine. How about lending me a hand up the stairs?”
     
    Chapter 6 – 15
    By the end of September, Kirk and I finished digging out the stalls. What had started as hard, backbreaking work slowly turned into pure tedium. Our young hands were tough as oak, covered in calluses, and attached to a set of wiry muscles that could dig all day. In a way, we were disappointed by the conclusion of the task, as if we had created some kind of momentum for shoveling the earth. In the long process, we had transformed the massive hay bale walls into an airtight shell around the barn. When we ran out of barn bales to pack with dirt, we moved over to the Carroll’s house and repeated the procedure. We discovered that if we took a bucket of water along, we could pack the mud into any shape we needed, and it would freeze in place almost immediately. The only trick was working fast enough to keep the water in the bucket from freezing solid.
    Other than a light dusting of snow on the 23rd, the main problem was the simple buildup of a frosty crust. Those of us working outside had developed the habit of carrying a hammer to knock frozen objects loose, which worked fine unless the object in question shattered like glass.
    Arturo probably made the single biggest contribution to our well-being. Once the outhouse was enclosed in a sandwich of sheet metal, wood framing, and square hay bales chinked with mud, a scavenged wood stove was installed in the six-foot space behind the original outhouse. A big black piece of PVC pipe vented the waste pit through all the layers to the outside, and stainless flue pipe vented the stove. The outer door was a foot thick, filled with sheet foam insulation, and edged in as much foam and rubber gaskets as we could find. All in all, the outhouse became a relatively pleasant place to take care of business. Even with all of that, Arturo made it infinitely better.
    He