The next morning, I slept in late. All the women were gathered in the kitchen talking swiftly about three or four different topics at the same time that was just too early for me to digest. Paul, Sammy, Scotty, Reese and all the dogs were in the pool enjoying a beautiful sunny morning.

  “We didn’t recognize you with your pants on.” Paul said out loud as I greeted the dogs holding my monster coffee cup. After breakfast, Helen presented everyone with team jerseys and baseball caps. Sammy was so excited. Helen got every detail correct according to Sammy’s specifications for the ‘Catalina Lightening’.

  We all drove down to our local baseball diamond and had another fun day of activity. Malibu K-9s won thirteen to nine. After the game we all went fishing. It was decided that the loser of the game was responsible for cleaning the fish. This never happens because we all share the fish cleaning and preparation responsibility equally.

  Sammy insisted that we all wear sport cameras on our baseball caps so he can put together a complete movie including his play-by-play commentary. This is a project that Paul and Reese help him with, but Sammy is a quick study and I’m sure in no time he will be able to do it without assistance.

  “Dad? Take a look at this bird.” Sammy said as he was uploading the data from each camera to his laptop.

  “What the…!” Paul said.

  “What kind of bird doesn’t fly around?” Sammy asked. Everyone within earshot assembled behind Sammy and watched the video clip named ‘Unkel Gerg’ as the image of the object appeared each time I faced east.

  “When was this…?” I started to say.

  “Bottom of the fifth, Doctor J was up with a one and two.” Sammy said without hesitation.

  “Helen was sitting next to me, see if you can…” I started to say as Sammy expertly minimized my window and opened ‘Ant Heln’. “There it is!” Reese said quietly as the image was visible each time she faced east. It did not move.

  “Drone.” Paul said.

  “DID ANYONE USE A DRONE TODAY AT OUR BASEBALL GAME?” Reese boomed out loud so everyone could hear. The multiple concerned responses of ‘No’ confirmed our apprehension. All of us standing behind Sammy looked at each other, and without saying a word, all went in different directions outside and surveyed the sky.

  The dogs all keenly aware of our heightened state of unease took off in different directions. Except Rosie and Pete who paced around the driveway smelling the air and the ground and looking toward us for additional information.

  “Drone batteries usually only last twenty or thirty minutes. Bottom of the fifth; we were playing for least another…” Scotty said trying to calculate the time frame as Sammy said “Thirty-six minutes.”

  “Thank you, Sammy.” Scotty said politely.

  “They may have seen us pack up and head towards the marina. That would be about an hour.” Reese said.

  “Who’s, ‘They’?” Asked Sammy.

  “Baseball fans, I would venture to say.” Scotty said trying to break the tension. Scotty deployed his drone from the back of his truck and recorded what our neighborhood looked like from above after a scan of the sky. Everything appeared normal as we all returned to the house.

  “Another fabulous dinner thanks to Sammy who continues to out-fish everyone.” I said holding up my glass of wine.

  “What is your secret Sammy?” Scotty asked.

  “You just have to talk to the fish.” Sammy said like it was common knowledge.

  “The power of positive thinking!” Susan said, proud of Sammy’s response.

  “Talk to the fish. I wouldn’t know what to say.” Scotty said in deep thought looking at Helen.

  “Try…I got something for you.” Helen said in a sexy tone. “That does yield some good results.” Scotty said winking at Helen.

  After dinner we all helped the Catalina folks pack up for early departure tomorrow morning. We all looked at Sammy’s video clips of the drone at the baseball game on the big screen T.V. and Scotty’s video of the sky and our house from above our neighborhood.

  “Sticks out like a green thumb!” Scotty said.

  “I think it’s beautiful!” Jillian said proudly looking at me and smiling.

  “We cannot ignore the fact that others exist, what is not known is what their intentions are. We can only hope they, like us are curious, friendly and not hostile. If they have been able to exist this long, I don’t see any reason for hostility. Hostility is born from laziness, and, like I said before, failed politics.” I said as I stopped myself from a long-drawn-out synopsis.

  “What about Oklahoma.” Reese asked, finally contributing to a conversation.

  “Especially that smelly guy in the bunker and the crazy lady you talked about.” Reese said looking toward Helen. “What if one or both of them actually made it and they were…questioned.” Reese said with emphasis on the word ‘questioned’.

  “It would not take a whole lot of brain power to connect the tracks we left from the Sofa-King to our house or here. Especially using a drone.” Scotty said.

  “I’m not going to give it a whole lot of thought, just be vigilant and have full clips.” I said.

  “What if we could track the drone? Track it to its source, without them knowing.” Reese said thinking out loud causing a bunch of eyebrows to raise. “We would need to know the make and model, but most importantly the transmitter frequency.” Reese added.

  “You guys are over-complicating things, what about leaving a message at the Baseball field? Chances are good they will be back soon. Place, I don’t know… a big arrow pointing to an envelope that asks what they want.”

  “If I saw that I would only think one thing.” Paul said.

  “A trap.” Almost everyone said together.

  “We can set it up tomorrow, after you leave. We’ll put out game cameras and the note.” I said.

  “What’s the note going to say, exactly?” Susan asked.

  “Sammy. Get some of your crayons please. Let’s reach out.” I said to everyone.

  “Can I make a suggestion?” Reese asked opening up a map of the area. “Why do you suppose they did not want to be seen, or make their presence known?” Reese proposed. “If they are ‘friendly’ they would have been happy to see us and make their presence known by doing some fly-by's and returning with the hopes we would follow it? If they were on a recon mission, they, well I, would have been careful not to be detected. Use the trees as cover and not as an obvious UFO against the sky.” Reese said finding the baseball field on the map and circled it with a pencil.

  “What if it was neither? What if they were at maximum range and…”? Scotty started to say as Reese pointed his huge sausage finger at him. “That’s what I think.” Reese said smiling. “Based on the location and the direction, I would estimate, right about here.” Reese said putting an X on the map of the approximate location of the drone. “If it was at maximum range…” Reese said as he made some formula calculations in a blank area of the map. “Do you have a compass and a ruler?” Reese asked. I quickly ran to the garage and returned with both and handed them to Reese. “One-mile range, plus or minus…” Reese mumbled to himself adjusting the compass and used it to draw a circle on the map.

  After a long pause, I made my proposal. “The question is, do we want to ‘poke the bear’ or let it come to us? Looking at the location and the terrain, they may be closer to Helen and Scotty’s house.” I said with concern and continued. “Let’s assume that they monitored our activity, performed a head count and no doubt saw the dogs running around and, all the vehicles.” A long silent pause.

  “Americas favorite post-apocalyptic past-time.” Paul said in a chilling, yet cheerful tone. Another long silent pause in the conversation. “Even if they were monitoring our communications, we propose absolutely no threat to anyone.” Paul concluded.

  “At the risk of sounding paranoid, that does not make me feel… comfortable.” Rebecca said as everyone agreed.

  “All of us have spent the last five years surviving, building and maintaining a self-sustainable environment using the resources available and most importantly, helping each other using information and knowledge learned, co-existing by sharing these resources and responsibilities. Would you welcome someone with open arms who showed up at your door that has contributed nothing and share what you have? What if someone came to your island and set-up camp.” I said turning to Susan and Paul as they looked at each other, then to Rebecca and Reese, who all looked at Elaine and Sammy.

  “Who do you think would be selected as someone worthy of saving? The common man or woman? A farmer? An accountant? A Quality… whatever you said you did Greg. I don’t think so.” Scotty said with growing concern making all of us feel vulnerable.

  “The wealthy, the privileged, untouchable people who are used to standing on the shoulders of those less fortunate visionaries who actually made the difference. Imagine living a life of luxury and entitlement and all of the sudden you trade EVERYTHING to live for five years like a peasant in a prison. A vaccination is created and you can finally go outside!” Scotty said becoming animated. “These people have no survival skills. They rely on others to provide for them. That’s all they know. Since money is no longer relevant, they have nothing. Do you think they would be able to build a water collection and filtration system like we have? Plant crops? Raise livestock? Stitch a cut? Fix a tooth? Desperate people make bad decisions.” Scotty concluded his well thought out scenario of a possible future that all of us have considered at one point or another.

  “What’s in Oklahoma Dad?” Sammy whispered.

  “I really don’t know Sammy.” Paul responded.

  “Everyone is welcome.” Jillian said sarcastically.

  “I suppose, if you can’t survive or are having trouble, it would be a welcome choice.” Helen said.

  “Control.” I said thinking out loud. “The ONE thing powerful cowards crave and need.” I added.

  “It’s easier to control sheep in a pen than out on the plain... with firearms.” Scotty added.

  “This is a serious conversation for us seeing just one drone. We are survivors, we have strength in numbers. No one is going to mess with us. Life is good, we have each other.” Jillian said standing up and holding her cup of tea.

  The author's narrative has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.

  “You’re right damit!” Rebecca said standing up in defiance.

  “Here’s to vigilance – with a full clip!” Reese said in a masculine tone confirming my quote from earlier with a sneer and a head nod.

  We all finished cleaning up dinner and went outside to the patio. Reese approached me with a CD. “Is it okay if I play this?” Reese asked showing me ‘Metallica, Justice for all’.

  “Hell Yes! Crank it up!” I said as I poured shots of Scotty’s bourbon, drank two and jumped in the pool followed by all the dogs as Jillian took pictures of the pups swimming under close supervision by Rosie and Helen. Roy was absolutely terrified of the water until Scotty got in and he had no choice but to swim with him.

  Jillian swam over to me with I thought was ‘the look’ and said: “You know what I could really go for?” “I’m afraid to ask.” I responded.

  “A cold beer.” Jillian said to my surprise.

  “The last time I saw you drink a beer was in Canada!” I said chuckling.

  “Maybe it’s a pregnant lady thing, but I really crave a beer!” Jillian said in a serious comical tone.

  “I’ll start tomorrow.” I said as she gave me a hug and said; “FUCK ME!”

  The dogs started barking and exited the pool as Mom, and a very big Sam strolled in from the side of the house. Ginger and Pete greeted Mom and Sam as I got out of the pool as quick as I could. Rosie, Becky and Jeff remained quiet and approached cautiously. No doubt they were aware of their presence in the area and Ginger and Pete’s behavior supported the fact they pose no threat.

  Reese turned off the music and everything was quiet and still as Ginger, Pete and Sam gave chase around the backyard playing. Scotty and Helen got out of the pool as well. I placed myself between Mom and Rosie, Becky and Jeff who were sniffing the air and hair partially standing up, but making no sound or showing of teeth. Mom glanced at them for a moment and sniffed the air and slowly walked past everyone toward Scotty who was holding Roy.

  “Hello Mom. This is Roy. One of Rosie’s pups.” Scotty said in a quiet tone looking at Rosie for a moment. Mom let out a gentle roar as Rosie, Becky and Jeff smelled Mom without touching her. Roy seemed unafraid of Mom and was perfectly content in Scotty’s arms as Mom moved in close for an inspection. Mom smelled Roy as he took a playful swipe and bite toward her. Rosie, Becky and Jeff took strategic positions just in case things went south. Mom glanced at each of them continuing to smell as she focused on Roy.

  Jillian came out of the house with a bucket of water followed by Helen who held the familiar box of dog cookies. Helen shook the box and Ginger, Pete and Sam knocked over two chairs to get into position in front of her. Mom slowly turned from Scotty and Roy and sat down and slowly drank from the water bucket and allowed Rosie, Becky and Jeff to smell her more closely.

  Jeff eventually took a position next to Sam waiting for a cookie as Sam looked over and let out a roar and Jeff grunted and took off with the hopes of playing chase. Sam was reluctant because cookies are awesome and I approached him scratching his head as he presented his paw for me to inspect. Just a thin line where no hair grows. His claws were just huge as I looked at them in awe.

  “What do you think Sammy?” I said looking toward Susan, Elaine, Paul and Sammy in the pool.

  “He’s a total bad-ass!” Sammy said.

  “Sammy!” Susan said laughing quietly as Paul turned to Sammy: “Total bad-ass is right.

  Jillian wheeled the cart destined for the compost bins with all the fish carcasses and food scraps. Mom took interest right away as Jillian slowly and carefully dumped the cart and Mom approached waiting patiently as Jillian sifted through the nastiness with the barbecue tongs as Mom leaned in and focused on Jillian’s hair. Jillian turned and was face to face with Mom as she sniffed her face and breath. This is the closest Jillian had ever been to Mom and it startled her a little. Mom backed away silently.

  Sam approached quickly and muscled his way into the cart head first that scared Jillian and made Mom angry and she moved with lightning speed to discipline Sam with a vicious snarl. Jillian jumped out of the way and stumbled over the handle of the cart. Mom placed herself between the cart and Sam and did not allow him to eat from the cart until she decided.

  This aggression immediately drew the attention of all the dogs who assembled and protected Jillian but did not interfere with Mom and Sam’s conflict. Jillian thanked them and said “It’s okay, it’s okay.” Reassuring them of her condition. Scotty just rolled his eyes.

  “Did you see how fast she is. Wow.” He exclaimed quietly.

  “Uncle Greg?” Sammy said quietly.

  “Yes Steven? I mean Sammy.” I turned to face Sammy.

  “I peed a little in your pool. I’m sorry.” Sammy said quietly and embarrassed.

  “Thank you for your honesty, Sammy. It’s okay.” I said.

  “Uncle Greg?” Paul said quietly in a similar tone as he just looked down and raised his hand.

  Sandy, Emma and Jake were eager to investigate the new arrivals and stayed close to Rosie as she laid down in the grass about five feet from Mom as she slowly snacked and crunched away. All three of them sniffed the air and tails wagging as they approached Mom. Jake approached first and issued a puppy grunt, woof, bark combination that made Mom turn her head in his direction. Mom rolled over on her back and casually picked apart a tuna carcass, I think, as Jake inched up.

  Rosie was not too concerned as Ginger, Becky and Jeff chased Sam around the backyard and disappeared toward the front yard. Pete sat next to Rosie and the pups panting and tails wagging. Mom let out a roar and turned back over. This just increased Jake's interest as he pretended to hide in the grass then pounce on Mom’s massive paw. Mom stuck her head into the cart and pulled out a particularly disgusting piece of something and placed it on the ground in front of Jake and then slowly made her way into the pool.

  “Aww!” Helen, Susan and Jillian said in unison as Rebecca, once again was in the kitchen behind the counter. Mom exited the pool after about three minutes of swimming. The water temperature was not to her liking. Mom approached Reese and started smelling his mouth.

  “See Mom. We helped him.” Jillian said transferring a bunch of cookies to Reese’s hand. Reese held out the cookies and Mom scooped them all with one swipe of her tongue.

  One of the dogs cried out loud as playtime with Sam was getting rough and out of control as they appeared from the opposite side of the yard. Once again, as fast as lightening, Mom engaged Sam who immediately laid on his back submitting as all the dogs scattered. Mom turned and looked at each dog and moved toward Becky. Becky had a small patch of fur missing near her back-left leg. Mom sniffed the area as Becky sat panting hard and happy. Mom grunted and walked toward the side of the house as Sam slowly followed her.

  We all were more concerned for Becky than Rosie and the rest of the dogs. She laid on her side still panting from playtime as Jillian and Helen checked her leg.

  The sun was setting as we all agreed not to leave a note or acknowledge the drone encounter. I was disappointed because I wanted to leave a highly sophisticated and intellectually challenging message using Sammy’s handwriting, crayons and construction paper.

  It was still dark outside and the house was a buzz of activity as we all had breakfast and prepared take home packages of fruits, nuts, vegetables, boxes of extra fresh canned beans, peaches and applesauce. All that we felt comfortable sharing without compromising our stock in case of a poor yield. The Catalina group felt guilty and thanked us constantly and promised to re-pay us.

  As we said our goodbyes at the marina and performed a quick radio check the wind changed direction and the dogs caught something.

  “Let us know what’s for lunch!” Paul said as he taxied “Sammy’s Toy” out of the marina following “Becca”.

  Pete stayed with us as Rosie silently trotted off. We all went into the marina shops and stores for tackle and supplies similar to what Paul, Sammy and Reese recommended.

  Upon returning to the parking lot, an identical black Escalade was parked next to Rebecca’s dirty one. Pete took point and started growling low. All three of us pulled our side arms and Helen walked behind us with the box of pups.

  “If they hurt one hair on any of the dogs…” Scotty whispered his warning as we swept the area for the dogs. I whistled loudly for the dogs as we approached the vehicle. The dark green driver side window dropped almost halfway.

  “Good morning.” I said in a cheerful tone smiling as we did not point our weapons at the vehicle.

  “Good morning.” Came a similar response from the driver.

  “Are you responsible for the dog’s quick departure?” I asked.

  “Yes.” Came a quick response as all the dogs suddenly appeared at the vehicle sniffing the air.

  “We figured the dogs would be gone longer with a bunch of food.” The driver said smiling. Male, mid-twenties, military hair cut wearing a ‘Angels’ baseball cap.

  “They just had breakfast.” Jillian said in a flat tone.

  “How can we help you?” Scotty asked with slight emphasis on the word ‘you’.

  “What makes you think we need help?” The driver said smiling.

  “Please, exit the vehicle slowly, one at a time and let the dogs meet you. One at a time, starting with you.” I instructed in a gracious tone. The window went up as the driver turned his head to the right.

  After ten seconds Scotty whispered “Safety’s off.” Without moving his lips. After about twenty seconds I said “Were leaving.” Loud enough for them to hear. As we started to back away, taking a more defensive position with both hands on our guns and searching the perimeter, the driver side passenger door opened slowly as two hands appeared.

  “I am not armed.” Came a thick male voice as he used his foot to slowly open the door. I whistled low and the dogs assembled around us.

  A heavy-set man in his fifties, salt and pepper hair, in a white polo shirt, dark blue sport coat, dark pants and tactical military issue shoes emerged smiling.

  “I can honestly say, when we saw the wolves were not domestic dogs, we were very surprised.” The man said with a smile as Pete slowly approached and sat like a statue exactly between us and the man.

  “That dog has a huge head!” The man said starting to smile showing his teeth.

  “Do not look at the dog and do not smile.” I said plainly. “What do you want?” I asked sounding a little more agitated than I intended.

  “My name is Billy. His name is Jimmy.” The man motioned using his head with arms still raised as the driver side window went down and Jimmy showing his hands.

  “And, not sure if you can see him but his name is Tommy.” The man said as a painful look came across his face for a split second. The front passenger leaned into view with his hands raised. “Howdy!” He said with a big smile.

  “It looks like we shop at the same store for transportation.” Scotty said calmly.

  “You can have any color you want as long as it’s black.” Billy said still smiling broadly.

  “Why did you wait for our friends to leave?” Jillian asked.

  “That, is a good question…” Billy started to say.

  “QUIT FUCKING WITH US! WHAT DO YOU WANT!” I said starting to get pissed off because his thoughts were very unorganized and preoccupied. It was like watching T.V. as someone else surfed the channels quickly. This caused Pete to stand up and the pack to close the gap.

  “Can I put my hands down?” Billy asked as his thoughts started to become more focused.

  “Yes.” I said. Eventually.

  “No doubt you are aware of a place in Oklahoma!” Billy said proudly.

  “Go on.” I said.

  “It’s a wonderful place. A refuge. For survivors, like you! Folks that are hardworking, determined to live and make the best out of an unfortunate situation.” Billy said sounding like an infomercial.

  “Is that your recruitment speech?” Scotty asked not very impressed. Billy laughed and tried to be as diplomatic as possible as he glanced at his watch for a third time.

  “We have no interest in Oklahoma or any other such location.” I said plainly.

  “Your daily struggle for food and water will be over!” Billy said confidently.

  “What makes you think we are struggling?” Jillian asked flatly. Billy laughed again with a hint of nervousness that was apparent to everyone. Billy focused on our guns.

  “Those guns are making me nervous; do you mind?” Billy said in a sudden change of temperament.

  “Yes. We mind, and now I have some questions for you.” I said holstering my Desert Eagle, Scotty and Jillian remained steadfast. “Under who’s authority are you bound?” I asked.

  “That’s classified.” Billy said with a smile that he knows is no longer working. I laughed out loud and asked; “Classified to who?!” Billy looked at his watch again and his blood pressure was rising as his face started to turn red.

  “Now. Let’s talk about where you stayed last night.” I said starting to pace a little as Billy and his associates became uneasy and were definitely sensitive to the time.

  “Never mind. Scratch that. What did you have for dinner last night?” I asked. Billy did not respond. “Tommy? Jimmy?” I asked taking a few steps toward their vehicle, now standing right next to Pete. “No response? Either they did not eat or they do not want to tell us what they ate.” I said out loud. “I find it hard to believe that YOU would miss out on a meal.” I said to Billy looking at his profile.

  “Our final answer is no. You have nothing to offer us that we want or need. We expect to never meet again to discuss this topic. We know where Oklahoma is. If any of us change our minds we will say ‘Billy, Tommy and Jimmy sent us. Such whimsical names.” I said turning toward Jillian, Helen and Scotty.

  “Your obstinance and disrespect will not go unanswered.” Billy said in a tone that he is obviously comfortable with and more suited to his true disposition.

  “Is that a threat?” Scotty said laughing a little.

  “We will never pledge loyalty to you or your spineless leaders. You cannot take away anything more than you already have. You think by threatening us… what… like with a bullet to the head is going to make a difference to us!? All of us have already considered that option long ago and it would not be that difficult of a choice. But know this;” I hesitated for a full seven seconds.

  “Your Canadian out-post, just outside Ontario, you know the one, you were so disappointed to find the freezers empty, and Tom and Chris…” I stopped mid-sentence because Billy’s eyes widened and his face turned a new shade of red.

  “We can save that conversation for another time. Right now, you have to leave.” I said with a false concern for him and his colleagues. Billy looked at me with the expression of: ‘How can you know that?’

  “You have looked at your watch a total of eight times.” I said winking at him. Tommy and Jimmy looked straight ahead during my enlightening speech and showed no reaction to the information that almost gave Billy an aneurism. “I would like to give you more information but, that’s classified.” I said.

  Billy was speechless as he turned to enter his vehicle only to be startled by Rosie standing on the roof looking at him like prey. Billy entered the vehicle and closed the door quickly as Rosie jumped off the roof and stood next to us. Pete did not move, Jimmy had to make two attempts to go around Pete, the third attempt just barely cleared his heaving chest with the bumper.

  “Should we follow them?” Scotty asked.

  “No. Greg scared the shit out of them enough for one day.” Helen said. As soon as the vehicle was out of view my knees gave way and everything dissolved.