Starting Over

Building

Early the next morning, dad woke me up. "Get dressed. We need to head out," he said and left. As I stretched my muscles, I thought. What's going on? It's still dark out. I got dressed in my work clothes, ready to tackle what needed to be done, and headed to the kitchen.

"What's up, dad?" I asked as I started making some toast and a coffee. I walked over with the pot and poured dad a refill.

"Franks on his way, can you pour him a cup also." Just then, Uncle Frank showed up and sat down. I set his coffee in front of him."Thanks, babe." He said

I grabbed my toast and asked if anyone else wanted any. Both men just shook their heads. So I sat to eat and listen to the plan.

"I need to head over and see the layout of Mary's place. Then I will have a better idea. I have already hooked the wagon up to the team so we can start loading all the materials to transport them over to Mary's." He takes a sip of coffee."Once we know what all we have, we will be able to start."

We head out with dad driving the wagon and the rest of us on horseback. We need to conserve as much fuel as possible. We arrived at Carol's place and started loading as much as we could onto the wagons. Then we headed to Mary's to unload it. Mary came out when she heard all the commotion. Dad and Frank went to speak with her.

She looked nervous and uncertain. "uhmm... I thought we were meeting tomorrow with the plans." She looked over at everyone unloading materials.

"Mary," my dad stopped her. "I'm going to be completely honest with you. I'm hopeful we will be able to complete the wall and get everyone moved in within a reasonable time. But we are running out of time as we speak. The refugees from the cities are heading in all directions, and they are desperate. We have been getting reports from multiple outlets they are dangerous. If we are going to do this, we need all hands on deck, and it's not going to be fun."

"Ok,ok, I got it." She looked at dad blushed."I would like to apologize for my previous behavior. I'm sure it doesn't mean much, but I am truly grateful for whatever help you can give us. I also want you to know that any supplies you need from town, please let me know. I can have it delivered here." Mary had inherited the steel plant and a few other businesses in town.

"We may need to get steel pipe or pearling to get the fence up, so let's take a look at the area we are looking at." dad said, then added,"Didn't George have some equipment like a tractor and backhoe for the dirt work."

"Yes, I believe they are in the back barn." She pointed to a huge barn behind the house. "Everthing you may need will be in there." She looked down and seemed hesitant, then she questioned. "Have you heard anything on the western front? George and the boys headed that way for the Nationalists."

"Most of the communications are coming in from the major cities. Some smaller battles have been fought with the refugees. It's total chaos right now. Once we get everything settled here, we are heading out to see what can be done on the front lines." dad responded

Mary looked devastated. She hadn't heard anything from her husband or sons.

"Mary, at this point, no news is better than bad news." Dad gave her a side hug. I just giggled because he is so uncomfortable with signs of affection. He turns and looks at me with an eyebrow raised. I just turn my head and get back to work.

By the end of the day, they had found a semi tractor and flat bed trailer and started moving all the materials using it. This cut down on the travel time. Dad and Mary also went to town with it and got enough metal pipe, pearling, and sheet metal to finish the fencing. While they were gone, everyone was working on the dirt work and welding. Dad said that as long as we weld the framework and screw the metal to the inside, it should work. We also booby trapped the metal frames by welding metal shavings and pieces that prevented anyone from climbing up the walls. It was tedious but needed.

When the sun was setting, Dad called it a day. We were able to pre plan for the barns to be within the fenced areas. Dad had talked with Mary about the herds and what needed to be done to enclose them for protection. Unfortunately, not all of them could be included. Combining all the ladies' assets, there were just too many. After the main fence went in, they could plan for additions, but the ladies' protection came first.

We had agreed that we would all meet up at day break again and continue. The ladies had started moving their valuables to Mary's place and would continue in the morning. 2 ladies were set up to help watch all the kids and cook for all the workers. This allowed more people to be on hand for the build.

.....

The following morning, everyone started arriving as the sun was rising over the horizon. Today, the initial framework will get set in concrete. As the frames go up, someone will follow behind screwing the steel to the frame. Last comes tack welds on the outside of the frame for more reinforcements.

By the end of the day, more than 3/4's of the fencing was up and secure. The frame for the gates are also erected and waiting for the gate installation. By tomorrow, the community will be secure.

It has been 4 months since the war started. Today felt like a new beginning.