Chapter 111 The Urgent Warning
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Deon frowns half awake. "How can we be sure the sentries in the watchtowers are also sleeping?"
"They all had the same dinner that I doctored with sleeping pills. Not only did I give them a meagre lunch; I prepared the most delicious dinner. I waited for dinner and the tower guards came and had the same food. I stood and watch how they emptied their plates. And also those rogues who are in charge here."
Deon smiles, pulls her towards him, and pegs a little kiss on her cheek. "I am amazed. You were the one who in the past persuaded me to dance to their tune and now all of a sudden you are doing this in secret."
"I have told no one, not even you. I am so relieved you are not cross at me. Something terrible is on my mind though, Deon. What about our workers? Are we going to leave them behind? I didn't doctor their food because I was afraid of overdosing them. But I have laced the rogues' food lavishly with sleeping pills. I made our and the worker's food on the side with the explanation that I use the good food sparingly for them to enjoy."
Deon frowns. "I am not sure about our workers' loyalty, Yolandi. It will be an enormous risk to visit their quarters now."
"I know and you are right. The men have crept deep into the ass of that monster Joss. They are afraid to death of him doesn't matter if he is far away from them now. They are terrified that he would hear something negative about them when he returns especially after the tower sentries messed up so badly. I feel bad about Jasmyn and Jacky who are at my side all day. I will feel terrible to just leave them behind."
Deon smiles and fondles his beautiful wife's blonde hair. "I know and I can see you have a strong bond with them but now they are lying with their husbands in bed and it is no option for us. Say their husbands don't want to join us and mess up everything? Then we are in serious trouble."
"What are we going to take with us? I packed our neediest things in carry bags in the meantime and hid them in a closet but what about provisions, etcetera? We will be at the mercy of the Eastwoods and the commander of the army to let us in."
"The Eastwoods will never disallow us, you know that."
"We don't know for sure what to expect from the commander. He is the one in charge over there."
"I am sure the Eastwoods will insist that we are accepted."
"What if they don't have accommodation for us? We must take the caravan with us. We just hook it on one of their black Rangers. Those cabs are well reinforced. If we are not allowed to enter, it may come in handy."
Deon nods. "It will be quicker and safer to depart with only one cab but you are right. My only fear is that the workers are not all asleep and they hear us and make an alarm. Listen, I am going to cut up a rope and tie down the soldiers one by one before I take their weapons and the keys of the cab and the caravan. A gun, pistol with enough ammunition, a knife, and sword for each of us. Then we load the cab with tinned food, dried meat and take enough perishables for three days before we start the cab and make a dash for it. If one of the workers does make alarm, we will be prepared with our weapons for whatever might happen."
***
It is midnight when Lyle together with soldiers approaches them from the main gate. Lyle sees the black Ranger, towing a caravan, waiting in the beams of the bright searchlights. Immediately Lyle recognizes the Sonnekus family through the front window and smiles surprised. He runs to the driver's window but a soldier grabs him just in time and holds him back so that he has to speak from a distance to the window. "Uncle Deon and aunty Yolandi, this is a surprise! Sorry, they are paranoid about the plague. That is why he keeps me back. I am not allowed to go near you before you have spent time in quarantine. The colonel sent a soldier with me so that I can come and identify you. I am sorry that you had to endure a tense wait."
Relieved Deon looks at the young man while Yolandi also waves friendly to him. "We are so glad to see you. Are all of you still healthy and fit as fiddles?"
Lyle's face changes as he gets a deeply worried expression as he answers a little unsurely. "We are very worried about Chloe and Uncle Hunter. They have gone with dogs and a few soldiers in a Casspir together with the two mothers in search of the two missing children. We tried to convince them it was too dangerous but you know our Chloe and Uncle Hunter, nobody can tell them anything. Uncle Isaac is in a state. The colonel simply forbade him to go along. Morrison, the colonel, said the doctor is too important for the well-being of our community. Although, we have Doctor Khaya, but he feels we cannot have enough doctors in or midst." Lyle winks as he says: "To my mind, he seems to be a bit of a racist."
Yolandi talks loudly from Deon's side: "Oh shame, the poor doctor. The two of them are inseparable. I can imagine. They always look like a pair deeply in love as if they have just married."
Somberly Lyle nods. "Yes, now Uncle Isaac seems without sparkle and deep in thought like a zombie. We are not used to this, but the rest is fit and the farm is doing well and you are more than welcome to join us. What is at hand over at your place? Do you remember how Chloe begged you to come and stay with us? Are you out of provisions?"
Deon frowns. "It is a long story, my boy. But I have a feeling you also have much to tell us."
Yolandi leans over Deon: "I'm curious. I think I know the two mothers you are talking about. It is very interesting. I can't wait to hear the whole story."
Lyle is surprised: "Really? How do you know them?"
Deon nods. "Long story, my boy! We must have a long chat after our quarantine. We have much to tell and I am sure your colonel is curious to know the details. Our farm was taken over by a group of soldiers and we only could manage to escape tonight."
Amazed Lyle's eyes widen. "What? What soldiers?"
"We think they are mercenaries. A wild, ruthless bunch in strange attire. You don't want to meet their leader. Believe me, he is a monstrous rogue feared to death by all. That is why we couldn't bring one of our workers along. They fear him to death and we are not sure where their loyalty is now."
"Goodness Uncle. They are now going to open the gate and please follow us to a special, mobile quarantine cabin especially equipped to cater for people who join us. You will have your own toilet and kitchen. I think they will hold you there only to make sure it is safe and then you will be moved to a mobile house that is ready for you. When we constructed the camp we expected that the community would grow in size. Have you had food and drinks and do you have enough provisions for the time being?"
"We had dinner and brought everything we might need with us. Even fresh produce for at least three days."
"We will in any case deliver refreshments to you in the morning. Very welcome to our community. You won't be sorry. We have the most wonderful people here who help each other and care for each other. We have made friends with a few interesting people and each uses his special abilities to deliver a unique service to the community."
Deon smiles. "Glad to hear that. I hope you will allow me to help you with the hard farm work, Son."
Lyle smiles: "You know, Uncle. I am on my own as far as that is concerned. I am the only farmer here and it will be nice to put heads together."
"Now you are speaking the truth."
"Speaking of it. We have a very handy uncle here who even ploughs Uncle Ronnie under."
"What? You are surely joking. No one can do that. He has on many occasions come and helped me when I get stuck with technical stuff. Do you remember that one time when my tractor wouldn't start? He came and helped me. Even today I am very grateful."
"No, really, Uncle. Uncle Anton is a millwright and he fixes anything and puts the strangest things together, you won't believe me. The other day he made a steam generator working with wood. He made a wood boiler that turns three weed eaters with steam that turns an electric generator. The steam goes via the sparkplugs' holes and is regulated by a reed switch on a flywheel. Even on rainy days, we can charge our battery banks with wood when we get rainy days for a long time with too little wind. And he knows all the army vehicles the best here. The colonel uses him even to help out the army's mechanics when they struggle with something."
"Goodness, Lyle, it seems you have quite a healthy team here with interesting people."
"Yes, very interesting and cheery. You won't believe it. Uncle Anton has a little black wife, Nonkosi, the loveliest human being. She frequently helps out in the clinic. She visits and looks after the old folk and children and the people simply love her."
Yolandi leans over. "Interesting, you make us very curious, I can't wait to meet all these people."
***
Rougi frowns at Heinrich. "I am sure the colonel will want to hear this message immediately. That's why I called you."
The application that Heinrich made, decipher the Morse code that was recorded over short wave and speaks in a tin voice. Heinrich listens to the first message that they received via Claus from Germany.
Kamala in New York eventually succeeded in sending the frequency and secret code to Claus and this is their first contact with Germany. "Claus from Germany. This is a message for Morrison South Africa. We are extremely worried to learn that you have ignored Kamala's message. We can't understand why they haven't attacked your base because you are the last base that operates openly. Maybe they wanted to track down the rest of us and now all our bases are wiped out and only a few survivors could get away and went underground like Kamala and Claus. We survive by only challenging the cannibals during nighttime to get provisions.
"We know on the farm you have fresh vegetables, fruit, and dairy products and that is why you are reluctant to move but unluckily you'll have to do it soon before it will mean your end. You will have to, just like us, move underground while you still have the chance. Move if possible tonight during the dark and vanish before daylight gives away your position.
"We simply could not understand how the enemy could detect all the positions of our bases and know of all our movements. There is only one explanation for this. The enemy didn't destroy the satellites but took them over and cut off normal communication. They see everything from the sky. You are not safe in the open and will have to move urgently. You will have to demolish all signs of your existence there and hide from the eyes of the satellites.
"That means no lights above ground or fires during the night and during the day you can only survive hidden under, say woods, that gives enough hiding place. Fires can only be made by day and in such a manner that the smoke doesn't give your position away. The enemy sees everything from heaven. You will have to get a signaler who operates from a position far away from your base because the tower can also be a giveaway."
Heinrich frowns heavily and shakes his head. "This is really bad, bad news. I wonder what the colonel will do about this."
