By the author of Dear Diary: It’s Me, Jessica: The Second Year
In case you missed the last chapter, you can find it here.
Dear Diary,
It’s me, Jessica.
With Michael seemingly having disappeared, Jack’s focus was now on the mysterious man with the infrared (IR) goggles.
We used Sampson and the puppies to track from where they picked up the scent and where Jack set up the game cameras to get a look at the mystery man. Sampson and the puppies led us into the woods to where what looked like the remains of a camp.
We secured the area, and Jack did a more thorough search.
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“He made more than a few campfires here,” Jack nodded at a spot on the ground where there was a pile of ash and the remains of charred wood. “And this is where he had a tent. I found a few tracks, but that is when things get weird.”
“What do you mean by weird?” Rae asked.
“I cannot find any tracks leading in or out. Sampson and the puppies only found the scent leading from the road to here.”
“Why make a camp clear out here if he was going all the way to Four Corners to steal chickens and rabbits?” I asked.
“Well,” Jack stood up. “We have not found anything missing in our community. When Rae and I were going out to the Millers, Sampson and the puppies picked up a scent, and I placed the cameras out here. I told the Millers about the strange rock piles and someone using an IR device to move around in the dark. They said they have not seen anything and nothing seemed amiss. So,” Jack looked around. “If I were him, wanted to keep a low profile, I would not steal from either the farms out here or our community, but Four Corners maybe. It is quite a haul from here to there. With the longer nights, if he moved fast, it is doable. Steal enough for five or so days to not arouse enough suspicion.”
“Why did he leave?”
“My little trick of setting up the game cameras out here to get a look at him likely scared him off. Or at least caused him to move somewhere else. He must be a tracker or had training. Aside from what I am finding here in the immediate area, nothing. No other scent that Sampson or the puppies could pick up. I know serious hunters have no-scent sprays, clothing detergent, even body wash to eliminate or at least minimize their scent before a hunt.”
Jack then ordered the rest of the men we brought from the militia to form up in pairs and conduct a search for anything in the surrounding area. After about a thirty-minute search, we found nothing. Jack ordered us home.
Part two
Rae and I hitched our horses to the hitching post outside of Sean’s shack. We came through the Four Corners East gate, and Tom gave us his customary over-the-top, bad-English, Shakespearean-like greeting. Collins and I rolled our eyes, but Rae gave him a smile and blew him a kiss. Tom mocked like he had been hit with an arrow to the chest and bowled over. I did laugh at that part.
“Oh, please, for the love of puppies and kittens, don’t encourage him,” Collins deadpanned.
We talked to Sean about going to make a trade with Jamal and his group in two days. Sean nodded and said he would get the word out if anyone was looking for anything they might need from the city and what they had for in trade. It was a long hump on foot, but with the horses and the pull-behind carts it was much faster. Everyone agreed they would send Sean to do the trading for them rather than making the hump themselves. Sean would ride in the back of one of the pull-behind carts with what Four Corners was looking to trade with Jamal and his group. I handed Sean a list of what Jamal’s group wanted to trade. With HAM Guy talking to City HAM Guy, trade was simplified as everyone knew what they were looking for and what they had to trade. There was still some on-the-spot trading and haggling, but not as much as when we first started meeting with them.
The rest of the morning, Rae and I spent walking around Four Corners chatting with people we knew, which was nearly everyone.
“It is funny. This,” Rae waved one hand around at the tiny homes, run-down or converted vehicles, and some were also small shops or cooking shacks with fires, vendor carts with various wares for trade, “Is what we would have done before the power went out at a mall. Window shopping. Buying an outfit or shoes we didn’t need. Getting a haircut. Lunch at the food court. And before there was electricity, this is what a mall was. Four Corners. Seems we have come full circle.”
“Think the power will ever come back on?”
“Oh, I think it will. We know it can be done. Your father, Nate, HAM Guy and the like, they have the knowledge. They just need the tools, supplies, and the time to get us there. I am sure there are more like them out there.”
“Would that be a good thing?”
“What?” Rae stopped and looked at me like I had a pumpkin for a head.
“What I mean is, before the power went out, unless it was my friends, I would not talk to anyone at a mall unless I had to. I would have never talked to Tom or Collins. Nate. Probably not even Sean unless I had to. But now, I know nearly everyone here in Four Corners by name, if not face. There is such an energy here. At the mall, it seemed so empty, even in the food court at lunch. Everyone was eating but looking at their phones. I barely talked to my friends sitting next to me. Now, we sit at the kebab place around the cooking fires, talking with others, the owners, and their kids. While waiting to get a haircut, we play cards and talk and joke with others waiting. At home, we have dinner with others in the community almost nightly. Sure, things are different and not easy at times. I never had to forage for firewood or stack it in my life till now. Now I do it without so much as a second thought. I ride a horse. I have a rifle. I should be driving a car and thinking about college.”
Rae gave a short laugh and put her arm around my shoulder. “That is an interesting way of looking at it. Come on, let’s get a kebab.”
Part three
Rae and I were on our way back home when I pulled up short.
Rae stopped too.
“What is it?” she asked.
I pointed.
There was a small pile of rocks on the side of the road.
“That was not there when we came out to Four Corners,” she said quietly.
“I know,” I replied just as quietly.
“It’s creepy.”
“I know.”
Then we heard the sound of laughter. We looked around, but it seemed to come from all around us, with no precise source. It then ended suddenly as it began.
“That is even creepier.”
“Yes, it is. Let’s go home,” I said. I didn’t wait for Rae to respond; I put my heels into my horse’s side, and she leaped forward into a gallop. Rae followed immediately behind me.
About 1stMarineJarHead
1stMarineJarHead is not only a former Marine but also a former EMT-B, Wilderness EMT (courtesy of NOLS), and volunteer firefighter.
He currently resides in the great white (i.e. snowy) Northeast with his wife and dogs. He raises chickens, rabbits, goats, occasionally hogs, cows and sometimes ducks. He grows various veggies and has a weird fondness for rutabagas. He enjoys reading, writing, cooking from scratch, making charcuterie, target shooting, and is currently expanding his woodworking skills.
