Chapter 9

 

 

 

 

We drove to the local Walmart store.  Jan picked up a sleeping bag and we looked through the tents.  Again most were very bright colors but we found one that was muted earth tones.  Then she picked up several other camping items.  Several times I told her that item I had and there was no sense in us both having one.  Most of the time she agreed.  I bought a couple more boxes of ammo just because I guess.

Next we went to housewares and she picked out a few things including three more of the big plastic totes to hold most of her stuff.  Then a couple towels and wash cloths.  Next was a pair of hiking shoes for her.  From there over to the grocery section where we both bought several items.   By the time we left the store we had quite a pile of stuff that we finally got stowed in the back of my little pickup.  The box of the truck was now about full but nothing had to be stacked.

It was quite late but we drove to the camping spot we were told about that was just a few miles away.  We both set up our tents and turned in to try and catch at least a little bit of sleep. 

We both slept late in the morning.  I did not get up until after seven and Jan got up about an hour later.  We shared a breakfast meal and then sat together on the tailgate of the pickup looking at the road atlas.  Jan had never been west of the Mississippi.  Though we had no where special to go we still had to pick some kind of a route to drive.

We decided to continue west to cross the Mississippi River then angle north.  Our destination was Hot Springs, Arkansas or actually the Ouachita National Forest.  It was pretty big and we should be able to stay there for some time if we choose to do so.

Decision made we packed everything up and stowed it securely and hit the road.  As I drove we listened to the radio, picking out an all news station.  All the news was bad too.  Things were getting much worse both here in the United States and also abroad.  We should be safe enough out camping though I hoped.  That was the whole idea of camping out.  And to save money.

I understood why Janet wanted to come with me.  Obviously things were falling apart and getting worse and if she had no place to go camping might be a viable option for her.  I don’t know how much money she had but camping would certainly make that money stretch for a lot longer.  Plus with the situation deteriorating everyday a woman alone could face a lot of trouble as she had already found out though why she seemed to trust me, I had no idea.

“So you said you had shot a gun before, right?”

“Yes.  I have shot rifles and pistols but never a shotgun yet.”

“If we find a good spot maybe we should have you shoot one or both of the pistols we picked up.  Then you can pick one of them to carry if the situation gets much worse.”

“Sounds like a good idea to me.  Things seem to be going downhill fast.”

“I got some ammunition for both of them at Walmart when we were there.”

“So what’s your story?  Why are you hiding out in the middle of no where?  In trouble with the law?”

“No.  No one is after me.  I was working at a nothing job in Atlanta and the place cut way back on when they were open due to the riots and they laid me off.  I thought it was good time to get out of the big city anyway so here I am.”

“Were you in the military?  I would say yes just by your haircut.”

“Yes I spent a lot of time in the Army and had only recently got out.  I was working at that nothing job while I tried to figure out what I wanted to do with my life.  What about you?  A college graduate?”

“My college major was Anthropology and I can tell you there just was not that many places hiring for that line of work.  I did have a fairly good job for awhile after college but it ended and no other jobs were available.  I kept lowering my standards and finally took that waitress job until that ended also.  At that point I was at a total loss as to what to do.  I had decided to go up to find my Aunt and Uncle as a last resort to see if they would take me in and that’s when those two guys grabbed me.”

“I’m not sure why you trust me enough to want to go with me.”

“You saved my life.  I owe everything to you.  Plus you have been very nice to me.  Add the fact that I have very little in the way of options as what I can do right now.  With things getting much worse, at least I know you will protect me if the need arises.”

“That’s why I want you to get comfortable with one of those pistols so that you can protect yourself.”

“Like I said that sounds like a very good idea.”

“There are likely many people like us right now.  People who have lost their jobs, have no hope of getting a job in this situation, and don’t really know what to do or where to go.”

“I think we will be much better off than many of them.  It is going to be a nightmare in the big cities.  With no jobs most of those people are trapped there.  They are frustrated, desperate, and scared.  I think things will get real bad in the big cities no matter how many police they have on duty.”

“I think you are correct.  Even the wealthy are mad and some might even be getting desperate after the banks and government took most all their money.  Even if the former wealthy are broke the masses will think they are still rich and really be resentful and envious of them.  It will be a bad situation for sure.”

We did not stop much today, only very briefly for a quick lunch meal and for fuel when needed.  Again I filled more often than needed to keep the tank fuller in case getting fuel became a problem.  I did buy a crank powered radio so we could listen to it without being in the pickup.  It also had a light on it which might be handy.  

It was still afternoon when we reached our destination of the big nation forest.  We stopped in one deserted spot and Jan did some shooting with those two pistols.  She liked one of them better than the other and would be carrying that one in the future.  I was glad I had taken the holsters off the two the bad guys. 

Leaving the shooting spot we took our time finding a spot for camping.  We drove well off the main road and found a nice spot with a small stream about a hundred yards away.  In Walmart we had both bought a case of bottled water and several one gallon bottles of water each also.  Though we both had small water filters we could use to purify the stream water if we needed to do so.

Using our bottled water for just drinking and cooking it would last a long time.  We could use the stream water for washing.  I did not know what the policies were here in the park but we would not be staying here all that long I did not think anyway.

We took our time and cleared the spots very well to place our tents.  There were many rocks around and we worked together to build a good fire ring.  There would be more things we could do to make it a better camp but that was it for the first evening here.

We cooked and shared a good evening meal and afterward just sat and looked at the stars with very little conversation.  When it got late we both turned in to our separate tents for the night.