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Authors: Pete Thorsen
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I had just hoped to never see anyone die again.”
Beth walked back into our house and I went and got what I needed to bury the man I had shot. When I returned and checked his pockets I found a small automatic pistol in one pocket. I put it in mine instead and went to work digging a hole next to the last grave.
When I had the man buried I made a tombstone out of wood and placed near the two graves. On it I had painted the words “Here lie those who would steal or cause us harm.”
I painted a one with a slash through it and next to it I painted a two. The sign/tombstone would maybe help prevent me from having to bury more. I doubted the sign would be enough to do that though. When I went into the house to wash up I showed Beth the pistol that the man had on him.
That night and the next day I did a lot of thinking. In the past Beth and I had left the property for several hours at a time and had thought nothing of it. But now I was reluctant to do that anymore. If found empty the place could easily be taken over by anyone who just happened past. Also I would not want to leave Beth here alone while I was gone for any length of time because it was just too dangerous. It was certainly a quandary with no easy answer.
So I just worked around the place doing odd jobs I had put off for awhile. I needed to both stay busy and be ready at all times.
Beth and I talked at length about the current situation. I fully explained my views on the food beggars. We had some extra food here now and hopefully the means to grow more food next summer. The trouble was that growing more food was not a certainty. We could plant a large garden but many things beyond our control could lead to no harvest or a very limited harvest. At that point we could be in serious trouble food wise.
Giving food to a beggar seemed the right thing to do. But what if a thousand showed up here begging for food? And with a city of around two hundred fifty thousand within a one or two day walk from our house the number of beggars showing up here could easily exceed a thousand. Obviously we could not give food to that many people even if we gave away every crumb we had.
If we were to pick and choose who we gave food to that could easily lead to many other problems. And this was all assuming that everyone was totally peaceable and that would certainly not be the case. Our situation was both complex and dangerous.
Chapter 10
Between us we decided that one of us would always remain here at the house until things sorted themselves out. Winter would take care of that I thought. Either the nation’s situation would get better before and during the winter or the nation’s population would be dramatically lower by the time spring rolled around.
One thing I did was load several of the long guns and placed them near the front and back doors of the house.
Over the next several days we had a few beggars. Not everyday but enough so it was not surprising when one (or more) came up to ask for help. We gave a little food to those with children. We were having cooler weather now and after another few days with no violent encounters at the house I thought I would risk doing a little hunting.
On my first outing I shot two pheasants and the fresh meat was mighty good. When one of our neighbors stopped over one day I was not surprised. I guessed at what was the reason he had come over.
“Hi Chip. How’s everything going over here?”
“Mostly good. Had a little trouble but nothing in the last week or so.”
“I saw the tombstone you made. Is there really two graves out there?”
“Yes. One drew a gun on me and the other made a dire threat against us that I could not just let pass. You have any trouble?”
“That’s kinda why I stopped over. What are you doing with the people that stop and ask for food? We have been giving out a
Beth walked back into our house and I went and got what I needed to bury the man I had shot. When I returned and checked his pockets I found a small automatic pistol in one pocket. I put it in mine instead and went to work digging a hole next to the last grave.
When I had the man buried I made a tombstone out of wood and placed near the two graves. On it I had painted the words “Here lie those who would steal or cause us harm.”
I painted a one with a slash through it and next to it I painted a two. The sign/tombstone would maybe help prevent me from having to bury more. I doubted the sign would be enough to do that though. When I went into the house to wash up I showed Beth the pistol that the man had on him.
That night and the next day I did a lot of thinking. In the past Beth and I had left the property for several hours at a time and had thought nothing of it. But now I was reluctant to do that anymore. If found empty the place could easily be taken over by anyone who just happened past. Also I would not want to leave Beth here alone while I was gone for any length of time because it was just too dangerous. It was certainly a quandary with no easy answer.
So I just worked around the place doing odd jobs I had put off for awhile. I needed to both stay busy and be ready at all times.
Beth and I talked at length about the current situation. I fully explained my views on the food beggars. We had some extra food here now and hopefully the means to grow more food next summer. The trouble was that growing more food was not a certainty. We could plant a large garden but many things beyond our control could lead to no harvest or a very limited harvest. At that point we could be in serious trouble food wise.
Giving food to a beggar seemed the right thing to do. But what if a thousand showed up here begging for food? And with a city of around two hundred fifty thousand within a one or two day walk from our house the number of beggars showing up here could easily exceed a thousand. Obviously we could not give food to that many people even if we gave away every crumb we had.
If we were to pick and choose who we gave food to that could easily lead to many other problems. And this was all assuming that everyone was totally peaceable and that would certainly not be the case. Our situation was both complex and dangerous.
Chapter 10
Between us we decided that one of us would always remain here at the house until things sorted themselves out. Winter would take care of that I thought. Either the nation’s situation would get better before and during the winter or the nation’s population would be dramatically lower by the time spring rolled around.
One thing I did was load several of the long guns and placed them near the front and back doors of the house.
Over the next several days we had a few beggars. Not everyday but enough so it was not surprising when one (or more) came up to ask for help. We gave a little food to those with children. We were having cooler weather now and after another few days with no violent encounters at the house I thought I would risk doing a little hunting.
On my first outing I shot two pheasants and the fresh meat was mighty good. When one of our neighbors stopped over one day I was not surprised. I guessed at what was the reason he had come over.
“Hi Chip. How’s everything going over here?”
“Mostly good. Had a little trouble but nothing in the last week or so.”
“I saw the tombstone you made. Is there really two graves out there?”
“Yes. One drew a gun on me and the other made a dire threat against us that I could not just let pass. You have any trouble?”
“That’s kinda why I stopped over. What are you doing with the people that stop and ask for food? We have been giving out a
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