IN THE BEGINNING............
Robby had been up and had breakfast with his Dad, Jacob Robinson, before Jake had to go into Tucson for a meeting with his boss, Colin Woods, who was the Superintendent of the Tucson District of the State Highway Patrol.
Both of them had watched the news on last night's television and they were concerned. The Muslim Party of War had taken over many of the countries of the Middle East and they were threatening to bomb the Great Satan - their name for the United States.
Jake said, "Son, if anything happens, you are to take the 350 (Ford F-350 Crew Cab Truck) and you and Rog are to hightail it to up to Greer. Don't wait for me, you boys are to get the hell outta here. Whatever happens, you guys have got to make it to safety!"
He looked down at his plate before he continued, "Robby, promise me you will take care of your brother, I don't know what is going to happen, but if something happens to me, you boys have got to carry on. You know I don't have a problem with your sexuality, I don't care who you love, but you guys are all I have in this world and, if something should happen to me, I couldn't rest easy unless you two were safe. Please son, don't take any chances, at the first sign of trouble, you get outta here pronto!"
Roger was standing in the doorway to the kitchen and he said, "Dad, you make us a promise to get the hell outta Tucson at the first sign of trouble. We need you and you are all we have in this world too!" Both boys hugged their Father as he left to go to his meeting.
Jake left for work, he was the Deputy District Superintendent of the Highway Patrol and his boss had scheduled a meeting for this morning. He worried about the boys all the way into Tucson. It was about a 45 minute drive from the Patrol Headquarters in Tucson.
The meeting started on time and was mostly concerned about the flow of "illegal immigrants" coming across the nearby border with Mexico. They had an individual from the Department of Homeland Security there and he spoke for a few minutes, telling them that the Border Patrol was overwhelmed and they knew that large groups of "illegals" were crossing into the country. Worse, there was no way they could stop all of them.
At 10 O'clock, they took a break and Jake headed to the coffee machine. As he was drawing his coffee, there was an awful explosion, the building felt like it was flying off its foundations and the ceiling collapsed. A beam hit Jake in the head and that was all he remembered, everything went black.
Robby and Roger cleaned up from breakfast and the two boys got ready for school. Robby was a junior and Roger was a new freshman at the same high school down the mountain in Oro Valley. Both boys were highly uneasy, something just didn't seem right and they stalled around, knowing they were going to miss their first period class.
Both boys were outstanding students and were carrying all A's in their classes. Robby was on the Swimming Team and was Captain of the Soccer Team. Robby's teammates knew he was gay, he had "come out" to them the preceding year and none of them, except for a couple "pretend" jocks, had a problem with it.
Roger had just been elected Captain of the Rifle Team and had just been accepted in the Debating Team. He had a dozen or more girls wanting to date him, so he played the field and had a different date every Friday and Saturday night!
Jake had set limits on both boys, no dates on a school night and they had to be home by 10:30 on a date night. Roger tried just once to "con" his Dad and found the limits of his bedroom on date nights to be very confining! Robby had slipped in just "under the wire a couple of times, but he missed the "grounding".
Robby had settled down with one "steady", after several years of disappointments, it was looking more and more like Buddy Davis was going to be his pick for life.
They finally arrived at school about an hour late, neither boy felt comfortable, but they would have to answer to their Dad about even missing first period. They made their second period classes, Rog had Freshman English and Robby was in Second Year Chemistry, along with Kenneth (Buddy) Davis.
They had just sat down to the lecture part of their class when the lights went out and the building started to rock. The alarms went off and all the students ran to the Flag Circle to be mustered by the school authorities. Everyone assumed it was an earthquake, those were very rare in Arizona, but not totally unheard of.
Robby spotted Roger across the circle from him and he waved. Robby saw him and waved back. After roll call had been taken and all the stragglers located, classes were dismissed for the day because there was no electricity. Roger came over to Robby and Buddy. They decided to go home, all three boys were, for some reason they could not identify, nervous as cats at a dog fight.
They got back to the house and Rog put a pot of coffee on. The three of them sat down, the electricity was off in Oracle as well, so there was no television for news. Robby went and got his portable radio from his room and turned it on, there were no local stations on the air. They were able to get a station out of Phoenix that was garbled, but they heard something about bombs!
Robby made a decision, "Rog, we are going up to Greer, it may be a false alarm, but Pop would never forgive us if we stayed and one of us got hurt!" He turned to Buddy and said, "Love, will you come with us?
Rog thought, "Oh, Oh, he has made his choice!"
Buddy looked at Robby and asked, "Do you really mean what you are saying?"
Robby grabbed Buddy in a hug and replied, "Yeah, I do, will you be my boyfriend?"
Buddy could hardly speak, "Oh God, Rob, I have waited for this moment and prayed it would come, YES, I will be your boyfriend, now and forever. I love you so much."
Just then there was a massive explosion that seemed to come from down in Tucson. As they looked out the living room window, they saw a huge mushroom cloud rise up over the shoulder of Mt. Lemmon.
Robby screamed, "Get your stuff and throw it in the truck, we gotta go, NOW!" He turned to Buddy and said, "We will swing by your place, hopefully Georgie will be home!" Georgie was Buddy's younger brother and was in the Sixth Grade at the local Elementary school.
They threw as many essentials as they could think of into the back of the "350" and headed for Buddy's house. Fortunately, Georgie was there, scared out of his wits. He clung to his older brother, Buddy, tears were rolling down his face.
Buddy held his young brother and then said, "Georgie, you know about the special place that Robinson's have up in the mountains?
Georgie replied, "Yeah, is it that kind of time, Bro?"
Buddy answered him, "Yes, we think it is and Robby is gonna take us up there right now. Go get some of your special stuff and as many clothes as you can, we gotta hurry!"
Both the Davis Brothers raced into their house and collected as much as they could carry, making several trips before their fear began to overcome their sense of security. They didn't have much, they both were orphans and the people they were staying with were in it only for the money they could collect from County Welfare.
Robby closed and locked the door to the camper shell. He and his Dad had modified it, the ribs were 1" steel pipe and the skin was sheet steel rather than the original light aluminum. The two small windows were made of wire inserted shatterproof glass and the door was made of quarter inch steel plate. The whole thing was painted to look like the original.
Just as they topped the ridge leaving Oracle, Buddy spotted another mushroom cloud rising into the sky and Robby pressed his foot all the way to the floor board on the fuel pedal.
The diesel engine of the 350 was screaming in protest as they raced down the canyon towards Mammoth. The little town was a madhouse, Robby had to slow down and pick his way through the town. People were milling around, not knowing what was happening and what they should do. When he finally got to the other side of town, he mashed the fuel pedal again, the engine rpm was floating at around 2800 and the red line was 3,000.
He knew it was safe, the truck was only six months old and Jake had had it serviced just the week before. Both fuel tanks showed full and there was a reserve fuel tank that held 200 gallons in the bed of the truck. All he had to do is open a valve and the fuel would run down, into the right hand fuel tank. He knew he would have to be on the left hand fuel tank to do a run down, so he was burning off the right hand tank first. The valve was located on the floor, just behind the passenger side front seat. Since they were all bucket seats, either the driver or the front passenger could reach the valve.
They were racing across the San Pedro Valley at about 80 miles per hour, towards the canyon road that led up to Globe. From there, they would head up even higher towards the Salt River Canyon.
Both Robby and Roger were praying their Dad got out of Tucson and would meet them in Greer. They had gone over the "PLAN" many times since the troubles with the Muslim Terrorists began. They all knew what they were supposed to do. The only change they had made was Robby's decision to include Buddy and his little brother, George. Roger fully approved, he liked both of them and now that his Brother had made his choice, he considered Buddy Davis to be his Brother in Law!
They sped through the corner of the little town of Winkleman, Robby never even slowing down for the speed zone, and headed up the canyon to Globe. There was surprising little traffic on the road and they could see into Globe that there was a lineup at the gas station. Their fuel gauges still read FULL, so there was no need to go into the town.
Robby turned right at Globe to stay on Highway 77 and headed towards Show Low. He dreaded the Salt River Canyon, but there was no other way to go. He fought the big truck down through the winding road of the Salt River Canyon and back up the other side. It was surprising that they had not encountered much traffic.
Robby had Buddy turn on the radio as soon as they had come back up from the canyon, but there were no stations on the air.
At White Mountain Road, he decided to go through the town of White Mountain and the Apache Indian Reservation, rather than going up through Show Low where several highways came together. There was always a traffic snarl in Show Low and with the power off he was sure it would be a madhouse.
As he slowed down in White Mountain, they encountered a barricade and an Apache Tribal Policeman manning it. They stopped and Robby explained they were headed to their house in Greer. The Officer asked him what the address in Greer was, and Robby replied, "Robinson Ranch on Robinson Ranch Road. I am Robert Robinson, son of Jacob Robinson, sir."
The officer chuckled, "Yeah, I know Jake Robison, he about flunked me on the firearms course! But he was an OK guy, he worked with me until I passed. Yeah, you guys can go on, be careful, there is a lot happening and folks around here are scared half outta theys wits."
Robby drove carefully through the small Indian town, there were children all around on the street and bunches of adults huddled in conversation. They all appeared to be frightened and not knowing just what to do.
They picked up the road to Greer just outside the small town of McNary as they again were heading east. Greer was not much further and, almost before he knew it, the turn off for Greer was in front of him.
He turned the truck to the right and headed down the road toward the small town. It was usually busy this time of year, summer was about to begin and tourists would flood the place. There was not a single person in sight and the place was quiet as a morgue.
At Robinson Ranch Road, Robby again turned right and stopped, handing the ring of keys to Buddy asking him to unlock the gate. It was a heavy, welded steel gate and substantial fence on either side. One end ended at a steep talus hill of broken lava that was too steep and loose to climb. The other end of the fence ended at a steep cliff that dropped straight down to a raging river 200 feet below.
Robby pulled the truck past the gate and waited while Buddy relocked it. It was another 7 miles and two more locked gates before they reached the Ranch. Robby pulled the truck into the garage beside the house and got out to stretch his legs. It had been a long drive, full of tension and they all were frightened and worried about Jake.
Buddy and Georgie didn't have such worries, they were fostered and their foster parents didn't treat them very well. Robby had seen bruises on Buddy and he had come to school several times with a black eye. Rog had told him that Georgie many times, was hiding terrible marks on his back that he thought came from a whip.
Robbie opened up the house and started the generator so he could pump up the water reservoir tank on the hill above the house. Both the freezer and the refrigerator were running as was the big walk in freezer out in the back room. They were all ammonia absorption units that ran off propane, or electricity if it was available, with automatic switchover.
The previous summer they had taken a complete bedroom and built it into a freezer. He and Jake had worked for two weeks with the contractor to get it finished.
They got all their things brought into the house, there was no question that Robby and Buddy were going to share a bedroom. Rog offered to have Georgie sleep in the bedroom with him, it had two single beds and a huge walk in closet.
While the generator was running, Robby went out and refilled the fuel tank on the truck and checked the two propane tanks down in their underground vaults. The tanks showed they were both full and there was a ticket from the propane service that they had been topped off two days before.
When all their move-in chores were completed, Robby turned on the radio and started looking for stations, there were only a few stations on the air. He couldn't get much news about Tucson except that it had been hit by three bombs, thought to be nuclear bombs. Phoenix, Salt Lake City, Denver, Las Vegas and El Paso were also reported to have been hit.
He then powered up the big Highway Patrol radio that his Dad had installed. He knew he was not supposed to use it, but he did know his Dad's call sign and he figured this was an emergency.
He said, "This is Jak273Y calling any station, over."
There was a long wait and finally a weak signal came back, "Jak273Y, this is Cal6139 in Show Low, is that you, Jake, over"
Robby replied, "Cal6139, No sir, this is his son Robert. We ran from home as the bombs started to go off, we don't know where Dad is or what is going on. I have my younger brother, Roger, and two friends here at Robinson Ranch, where Dad always told us to come to in an emergency, over"
The other station responded, "Jak273Y, Son, I know you are scared, don't worry about using your Dad's call sign, under these circumstances, it is more than OK. We don't have much information yet, but we do know that Tucson was hit pretty damned hard and Phoenix is completely gone. You sound like you are nearly a man now, you gotta take care of your brother and your friends, I will mark the map that you are there and maybe we can check on you every so often. Right now, that is about all we can do. I gotta go now, stay safe son. Cal6139 clear."
Robby sat in the chair in front of the radio, holding his head and tears were leaking from his eyes. He felt two hands come around him, holding him tight. It was Buddy, "Love, you don't have to carry this all by yourself, I am here and we are partners in this awful thing. I will do anything I can to make your load lighter, together, you and I, we can make this work. Come into the front room, the coffee is ready and you look like you could use a cup!"
Buddy brought Robby a cup of coffee and he had grabbed a bag of donuts as they were getting their stuff out of their Foster Parent's house. He put two of the small donuts on the saucer as he handed the coffee to Robby and said, "Rob, you need a little sugar in you to keep up this pace. While you check the place out, I will start something for lunch and, I guess, I had better get something out of the freezer thawing for supper while I am at it."
Buddy found some canned soup and a box of crackers for their lunch and Robby checked all the barns and outbuildings, making sure they were secure and nobody had broken into them while they had been away. Robby shutdown the generator as the water tank was full. They had kerosene lamps for lighting when the generator was not running. The batteries on the Highway Patrol radio and both the shortwave and standard broadcast receivers had been charged up when the generator was running.
After supper, Robby sat down at the shortwave radio first, trying to get some information. He got a station from Omaha first that was reported widespread riots and mobs running through the streets breaking windows and looting stores. A station in Denver was reporting much the same, as was San Francisco, Los Angeles and Seattle.
He finally gave up with the shortwave, it was too much doom and gloom and he could not get any information about Tucson. The standard broadcast radio was not much better, but he did get a station that was broadcasting out of Oro Valley. They reported that Tucson had been hit by three nuclear bombs, apparently smuggled in from across the border. Phoenix had suffered six bombs and the business district was completely destroyed. The cities in the outskirts surrounding Phoenix were nothing but rubble.
The Muslim Jihad was claiming responsibility and there was widespread damage in Tucson and that the National Guard had been called in to help prevent looting. There was rioting in South Tucson and the power outage was widespread. The Palo Verde Nuclear Power Plant was offline because the main transmission lines were down and the main substation had shorted out. The reporter said that the power company officials claimed in would be several months before electricity could be restored.
That was enough for them, they could not get any information about Jake and it looked like they were going to be in Greer for a good long time! Robby turned off the radios and suggested they all hit the hay, there was a lot that had to be done the next day.
As Robby and Buddy snuggled up to each other in the bed, Robby said, "We gotta plant a garden, otherwise we will run out of canned stuff. There is a rototiller in the equipment shed and Dad bought a whole bunch of old timey seeds the last time we were here."
He held on to Buddy and continued, "Ya know, we might be here for a good long time, we gotta keep Roger and George busy. They need to keep up their schooling, maybe I can get some books over in Greer?"
Buddy replied, "It probably wouldn't be good if too many folks knew we are here. They could cause us trouble over food and stuff. Are there any guns in this place?"
Robby answered, "Yeah, there is a gun locker in the basement. There is an assortment of rifles and some shotguns. I know there are at least ten handguns in there, too."
Buddy asked, "Is there plenty of ammunition for all those guns?" Robby replied, "There are a bunch of boxes of ammo stored in the steel locker beside the gun locker." Buddy said, "I think you and I had better start carrying a handgun, maybe even Roger, too. He has had gun training with the Rifle Team, and he can help protect the house if push comes to shove."
It had been a long day for both of them, full of tension, and both were worried about their younger brothers, with a hug and a tentative kiss, they both fell asleep.
Morning seemed to come around very early, they smelled fresh coffee and they could hear someone rustling around in the kitchen. Buddy and Robby got out of bed and pulled on their trousers to go see what was going on.
They found Rog in the kitchen, he handed them a cup of coffee and a warmed-over donut, saying that would hold them until the pancakes were ready. Robby and Buddy sat at the table, still somewhat bleary-eyed as Rog expertly flipped pancakes on the griddle, along was a couple of strips of bacon. Rog would become their cook as things progressed.
There was a lot in the future that they could not even dream of right then. George wandered out to the kitchen, drawn by the smell of bacon. His head looked like a hay field. He had blond hair and it was shaggy and pointing in every which direction. He smiled and came over to give Buddy a hug, and then he thought he should give Robby one also. He kind of held Robby's hand, and Robby pulled him into a tight hug.
George smiled and leaned into Robby, he had never had any family-type love from anyone other than his older brother, so he was soaking up the love that Robby gave to him.
After everyone had some breakfast in them, Robby took Rog and George out to help in the garden, while Buddy made an inventory of their food supplies. Robby got out the tiller and checked it out, while Rog and George cut down the several young trees that had sprouted in the garden area.
The rototiller was a beast, by the time he had tilled the half acre plot, Robby was sure his shoulders and arms were going to drop off. In fact, he almost wished they would!
The soil worked up nice and Gus Yellow Feather, their caretaker and handyman, came down with a huge wagon load of horse manure they could work into the soil. He stopped to talk with Robby and he was concerned when Robby told him they didn't know where Jake was.
Gus, an Apache Indian from the White River Reservation, said, "How 'bout me asking a couple of men from the Reservation to come down here and help? They would be young fellas, like you guys."
Robby replied, "Yeah, that would help, I think our food supplies are pretty good, why don't you and the Indian Boys eat with us, family style?"
Gus thought for a moment and then asked, "That other young man, is he....?"
Robby cut him off by saying, "Yeah, Gus, he is." Robby had a grin on his face, Gus had known about Robby, probably before Robby, himself, was sure.
Gus changed the subject by saying, "The horses need riding, there are six of you guys and there are four horses, so they should get lots of exercise!" Robby then told Gus about the bombs and the news reports. Gus asked, "Mr. Robert, I got two nephews what got no parents, theys living up in White River with my cousin, but he don't take much care of them. Could theys come live here with me? I would see about theys extra food an' all."
Robby asked, "How old are they?"
Gus replied, "Theys be 9 and 13."
Robby responded, "Sure, bring'em down here, they can help in the garden and such. It was a decision that would result in great changes to life on the Robinson Ranch.
TBC
It is a terrible time for boys to grow up, they will grow up before their time and become men at a young age. Will the Robinson Boys ever find their Father, Jake? How long will they have to survive on a mountain ranch near Greer? More is to happen to them before this is all over.