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Tina the Goat

Year 2042

By CAROLE S TURNERPublished 3 years ago Updated 3 years ago 8 min read
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(Read after my story, Lady M and before Gobby Blank)

Tina, the goat, was glad to be alive and eating grass. She grazed around the burned-out remnants of the house where her people once lived and wondered where they'd gone. She saw the old barn was still intact, and a wave of comfort washed over her. The bad people hadn't touched the barn.

Tina's humans, Oldena and Atavi, were down in the storm cellar under the barn. Oldena woke with a start. Atavi was sound asleep beside her. "Did she dream of her father? Does she miss him as much as I do?" Oldena thought.

Atavi rubbed her eyes as she started to wake up. Tina bleated just outside the barn, "Mother, Tina's back!" Atavi chirped with glee. She'd worried about her animals. Oldena put her pointer finger to her lips and shushed Atavi who's eyes reacted with sadness. Oldena grabbed the notepad and wrote, "Let's make sure no one else is out there first, ok?" and Atavi nodded in agreement. They crept up the bunker stairs and opened the trap door. The barn was empty, no sign of trouble there. They both ventured to the barn door and peered out discretely. Tina, the goat, was alone, and she looked just a tad freaked out. Oldena looked down at her and gave her a pat on the head, "Tina, where'd you come from? I'm glad you're safe." Oldena turned away from Tina and toward Atavi and said, "looks all clear" Atavi came out and hugged Tina.

The year was 2042. Tina, the goat, Oldena, and Atavi had survived a Cult45 attack on their home by hiding in the secret cellar under the old barn. Well, not Tina; she'd run off into the woods as soon as all the commotion started. Oldena and Atavi hid in the cellar below the old barn while the cultist destroyed everything else.

Cult45 was trying to overthrow the U.S. government and form their own country in the former states of Florida, Alabama, and Mississippi. Between 2030 and 2042, these states had seen significant chunks of their coasts erode and hundreds of miles turn into a marsh. There were sinkholes, polluted waterways, failing infrastructure, a rapidly declining birthrate, and extreme poverty. The U.S. agreed to let them consolidate those three states into one state named, Proll but that didn’t satisfy the insurrectionist; they wanted to form their own country. Their leaders had convinced the Russian government and other foreign dictators to help with their efforts to overthrow the American government. The cult45 followers expelled anyone living in Proll who disagreed with the cult. They formed trailer park communes and, with the help of a foreign military, were attempting land grabs in Louisiana and other neighboring states. Judge Oldena Freeman lived in Hammond, Louisiana, forty-five minutes from the Mississippi state line.

Tina bleated as Atavi hugged her neck, "Girl, come see this mess!" Tina said to Atavi as they walked around outside the barn and then toward the remnants of their home. Of course, Atavi, nor any other human could understand what Tina was saying but that had never stopped her from talking to her people, "Your house is gone! Look at that! Those crazy people burned it down! What are we going do, little momma?" tina bleated. Atavi stared at the charred shell that was once her home. Tina bleated on, "I swear they almost got me. I didn't know where y'all went! I saw Bart and Massey turning on a spit! On a spit, you hear me? How are those maniacs going to eat meat when they don't have teeth? Let me tell you. I ran like hell after seeing that. Those crazies were not going to cook me!" Atavi sat on the ground by Tina and began to cry. Oldena came and sat beside them and joined in on the crying. Tina took a breath long enough to notice the lament, "Nope, nope, nope, stop that crying! Nope, nope, nope, not going to cry, Goats don't cry, damn it!" Tina didn’t like these feelings, and she headed to the barn.

Once inside, she saw the rusted-out tractor, old tools, piles of hay, and then the opening to the cellar where her people hid during the raid. She walked down the cellar stairs. They had everything down there, food, beds, electricity, water, and a communication device. "My girls were set!" Tina was impressed by their end of the World bunker.

Oldena and Atavi came down the cellar stairs, "Tina, you can't be down here." Oldena declared. "Please, mother, let her stay with us! We can't leave her out there. The cultist might come back." Atavi pleaded. She was sad and confused, and she didn't understand what was happening. "Mother, why did they burn our house?"

Oldena answered, "Because we wouldn't give them our land and we refused to join their cult, and they believe anyone who won't join them is evil. Tina can stay in the cellar with us for a little bit, but she must go up into the barn if we're still here tonight. She can be our lookout in case they come back, which I don't think they will."

Atavi was overwhelmed, "I miss daddy. I want him to come home. I want our house back and the bad people to stay away."

Oldena replied, "I know, sweetie, I feel the same. Hopefully, we will get rescued soon. I've been sending out a distress call every hour, but the cultist blocked the frequencies in this area."

Atavi's father, Senex, worked for the CIA and had been called to Washington when the war broke out. At first, they were in regular communications with him, but then he went undercover, and they hadn't heard from him since.

As night fell on the end of their hard day, Oldena and Atavi prepared the bunker for bed.

Tina started bleating, "Ok, well, I'm going to bounce, be back later, Chickees!" and she bounced up the stairs and out of the bunker. Oldena closed the hatch behind her. Tina found the hay pile and settled in for a few hours of sleep.

Around midnight Tina heard meowing coming from outside the barn. "Tina! Tina, you in there? Its Caroline. Let me in." Tina ran to the barn door and lifted the latch with her head; in came Caroline, the cat holding a small bundle of wildflowers in her teeth which she dropped in front of Tina, who promptly ate them. "Thank you, love," Tina said while chewing. "You certainly know the way to my heart. Let me guess; the cultist didn't take you because someone was allergic to cats?" Caroline meowed in agreement and replied, "that or they hate cats, either is fine with me. I can't believe how some humans act. I ran off and tried to find you. Then I was worried you'd been taken or eaten. I found a tree to nap in, but then I couldn't get out of the damn thing! I'd still be stuck up there if that bird hadn't flown by, causing me to jump at it and fall out of the tree! Used one of my lives ‘cuz of that bird, now I only have eight remaining. But at least it got me down, and now I'm here with you." Caroline brushed Tina's leg, "I'm so happy you're ok." Tina said while yawning. Then Tina and Caroline laid down in the hay and went to sleep.

After a few hours, they awoke to the sound of a vehicle approaching. They got to their feet and stared at the door anxiously. Suddenly they heard, "This is the United States Nation Guard. We've come to take you to safety" Tina and Caroline looked at each other, "The good guys!" Then they ran to the bunker hatch to let Oldena and Atavi. Their rescuers had come." Tina bleated, and Caroline meowed.

Soon Oldena and Atavi emerged half asleep, walking toward the barn door. Atavi saw Caroline the cat, "Mother, Caroline made it too!" she said as she reached down and picked her up, snuggling the cat close. Oldena opened the barn door, and in came a woman dressed in fatigues. "Judge Oldena Freeman, I'm Captain Rodrigues. We received your distress call and have come to take you and your daughter to safety. Can we have your permission to gather evidence around the property?" asked the captain. "Yes, thank you for asking," Oldena replied.

Oldena and Captain Rodrigues walked away from the others and talked in hush tones. Atavi sat on the ground, and Caroline climbed into her lap. Tina nibbled on some grass beside them. Guardsmen walked around with guns, and men in different uniforms collected evidence. After a short time, they saw headlights coming down the drive. Everyone became tense, guardsmen pointed their weapons and stood ready, Captain Rodrigues turned a spotlight in that direction. The vehicle stopped, a man emerged from the driver's seat with his hands up, "Don’t Shoot, I’m agent Senex Freeman. This is my home.” Oldena and Atavi gasp when they saw him then they ran to his embrace. “I got here as quick as I could.” They stood entangled for what seemed like an eternity and cried a mixture of sad and happy tears.

“Sir, we really need to clear out,” The Captain said to Senex, and he agreed.

Atavi carried Caroline while Tina followed them into the back seat of Senex’s car. The quiet of the large vehicle gave the impression of calm, but Atavi felt the silence flexing. The tension caused her to clench her teeth. Atavi turned to watch the charred remains of their life getting smaller out of the car's back window. Feeling all the emotions, Atavi chose to settle on gratitude, “goodbye and thank you.” She said softly as distance and night consumed the old barn. Caroline meowed, and Tina bleated in agreement.

future
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CAROLE S TURNER

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