by D A Carey
“Let’s plan to get them what they need. Levi, do you have a team that was training for Utah we can send?”
“Yes, we had five people earmarked for Utah. I’ll add another and an experienced noncom.”
“Good. Louis, I’d like you to ask for a couple volunteers to go help them process refugees in. We want to be careful who we let in and how we vet them. Get them radios so we can use the computers here to check people out.”
“Yes, sir, we’ll make it happen. It will take a few days.”
“I’d like to go back too, sir,” said Jeremy. When they turned to him, he said, “It’s gorgeous there, and we’re close to getting something good done. I want to be a part of it and not let the other fellows down. Most everyone there feels the same way.”
“Good for you. Thank you for your service to this country and the community,” Dave said solemnly.
After Jeremy left and Levi went to talk to his people that would be going to Utah, Dave turned to Louis. “I’m convinced it’s time to focus more on our communities. We’ve been so distracted by the attacks and worldwide news that we haven’t given our own people the attention they deserve.”
“I don’t know, sir. Everyone is in rather good shape. You’ve done more than any one man could have.”
“Utah wasn’t okay. We don’t know what’s going on with Texas, Kentucky is probably fine, and Georgia may be at risk.”
“That’s all likely correct, sir. What do you want me to do?”
“Let’s help Utah all we can. We may need to see if there are any groups between here and there, especially in the Indian reservations that we can give radios to so we will have a safer convoy route. Let’s see what Georgia needs. I expect Jeff won’t ask for help until the last minute. He has Andy down there to help with security, and he’s as solid as they come. Let’s try to get them more food, seeds, guns, ammunition, and people as soon as possible. Send a convoy from Kentucky. We’ll find a way to replenish Kentucky.
“For Texas, see if we can find a way to get a team down there. Get with Levi to come up with a plan.”
“Yes, sir. Do you have a priority?”
“We protect SOP-Town first and don’t let our supplies get too depleted. We may need to plan a group to go into the warehouses in Colorado Springs.”
“We have plenty of pre-positioned supplies at other locations around the country. You planned well for this.”
“I don’t think anyone can totally plan for this. My second priority is C-Town and keeping them on solid footing. After that is Utah.”
“Jeremy said they’re calling the Utah location Sad-Town.”
“Okay, Sad-Town will be next because they’re close and have a clearly identified need. After that, Ho-Town in Georgia. I still chuckle when I say that, because they have a more pressing risk due to the Atlanta population. After that is Turk-Town in Texas. I feel like I should rank Texas higher. I worry that reaching out to them would be dangerous and people could get hurt helping them. I want to focus on the others first.”
“Yes, sir. Anything else?”
“Only your general news update. You didn’t have a chance to give me the daily briefing with the excitement of Jeremy coming in. What’s going on in the country and the world?”
“More of what we’ve discussed. Terrorism in the eastern half of the country is raging unchecked. Large office towers have been hit with explosives and handheld rocket launchers. Attacking those locations was a stupid waste because they’re largely uninhabited by now. However, the psychological impact is huge. Even though the military is protecting power and water resources, some terroristic strikes have gotten through. What’s worse to me is that many of the captured terrorists are from the homegrown Antifa movement.”
“Jerks! Can’t they see it’s time for us to all put our differences aside and pull together? They’ve always been driven on hatred and emotion.”
Realizing that Dave rarely got this upset, Louis decided not to add fuel to the fire and continue with his report of the east. “In the west, the military is focused on bases and ports. The general public is on their own, and as you know, it’s bad. The satellite feeds show fires burning unchecked in most major cities. We can’t tell if it’s a result of terrorism or merely general societal breakdown. We’ve seen some damns and infrastructure explosions, so we assume some level of terrorism is happening in the west as well. The news from both the east and west is so heavily censored we’ve been forced to hack satellite feeds and use some of our gray resources for this information.”
“What about outside the U.S.?” Dave asked, tight-lipped.
“Europe, Asia, and most continents are experiencing much of the same. While we can’t rule out boots on the ground, it looks like most other countries are in such bad shape they may not be able to launch an offensive, with the exception of Russia and China. We have some unconfirmed reports of Russia moving into Alaska and China into Mexico. That would align with your theory that those countries have been trying to goad Iran and North Korea into being their nuclear cat’s paw for years so that if they launched a first strike and we retaliated against Iran or North Korea, Russia and China could sweep in for the spoils.
“They didn’t count on our intelligence being so good and our counterstrikes being so expansive. Even though it may not have knocked them out for good, it knocked them back enough to give us time to get back on our feet. Also, many regional feuds at a national level sprang up, and nations began attacking their neighbors for food and resources. It’s a mess in the world. I can’t see things getting back on track for decades. While the newsfeeds from Europe, Russia, and China are heavily censored as they have been for decades, nonetheless we can read between the lines to a certain degree, and we have a few gray resources outside the U.S. too.”
“It’s overwhelming beyond description. Let’s focus on our people first.”
“Yes, sir.”
<< Dave >>
“Levi, what do we have in terms of troops allocated for Ho-Town?”
“Everybody currently planned for Ho-Town was already sent before things went to hell. We’ve steadily been recruiting and do have a few more people that want to go back east closer to home.”
“How is recruiting going?”
“A lot slower. The military stopped all retirements and separations. The western half of the country has been dark so we’ve lost touch with our recruiters west of the Mississippi. We’re getting some East Coast recruits from former military people, but it’s hard to get them here for training. We’ve trickled a few into the nearest chartertown location when we can’t get them up here. I’ve been working on a plan for a convoy to get some of them here.”
“Fine. I have a plan I want to make happen. We already sent the relief convoy to Utah. I want to send more men and ammunition to C-Town. I understand there is a man there named Don Allen who’s in charge while Vince is absent?”
“I’m glad you didn’t say gone. We all know Vince’ll turn up. He’s hard to kill,” Levi said in defense of his buddy. “And yes, I met Don when I was in C-Town last year for Vince and Liz’s arrival from Chicago. Perhaps he’s a bit out of shape and been to pasture a few years too many. Even so, he’s a solid soldier and a good leader.”
“That’s perfect. I’m going to ask him to take a few trucks with men and supplies overland to Ho-Town. They will need to take their own fuel and plan not to stop.
“I want you to aggregate any recruits we have in the eastern half of the U.S. in C-Town. Plan to send some of your trainers there, too. No use bringing all those men here for training just to be deployed back east when they are done. As soon as Louis can get approval for a flight, I want to send a couple of planes into C-Town with replacement troops and supplies. They can return with recruits and things we need here in the west.”
“I’ve got a couple of questions,” Levi said uneasily. “I’d like to go east if I may, and where will the planes land?”
“I’m sorry, I need you to stay here. I want you her
e ready in case we need to go to Utah, Texas, or hopefully to help Vince and Liz. If Don’s as solid as you say, he can handle this mission and make it back. As for the flight, let’s plan to send them to Madison, Indiana. The violence there has been contained reasonably well. That city learned their lesson last year and clamped down harder and faster on the crime and chaos this time.”
“Yes, sir, you’re right. Can Louis get permission from the government for the flight?”
“I expect so. The man’s a wizard at that stuff. It’s harder now because much of the federal government is in hiding in underground bunkers. That may not be the worst thing, though, because many of them were corrupt and lining their own pockets. We have some indication that some high-ranking people in government were involved with the attacks on the U.S. I personally don’t think they knew about the actual attacks; however, they did provide aid and information to those countries that was later used to attack us. With the inept and corrupt people in hiding, it’s bad for us and the country in the big scheme of things. On the other hand, it also means that the low level people Louis can reach don’t have as much oversight to what we’re asking them to do. They’re more desperate for the favors we can offer in return.”
“Sounds like bribery,” Levi teased.
“Not quite, although you might enjoy gloating at the fact that I’ve relaxed my stance a bit on the topic. Mostly we provide information just as we always have. In some cases we’ve provided supplies, ostensibly for the rebuilding effort.”
“What about the military? I’m not suggesting a coup, but they could tip the balance of power.”
“They’ve been stripped and gutted for years. Many didn’t return from overseas when the attacks happened. I don’t know if they were killed, captured, or cut off. I just hope they’re in transit. Those in the U.S. now are overwhelmed just trying to protect bases, ports, power plants, and borders when possible. They won’t be effective inside the U.S. for more than that for a long time. That’s a shame, because we have the makings of an internal crisis coming in which they will need to choose a side.”
“What could be that bad? I mean, what could be worse than what we already have?”
“I’m not sure yet. We’ve been getting reports for a while about the FEMA/DHS camps in the east. We’ve heard that they’ve settled on ten camps regionally which, by itself, isn’t the worst of things. The scuttlebutt is that they will use an executive order under federal martial law to disband state governments for the time being.”
“I don’t get the why of it, boss. Most state governments aren’t even showing up for work right now.”
“The administrators at the ten camps have virtually ultimate and unchecked power. Some people have called them kings over kingdoms in the absence of a federal government. They have FEMA and DHS troops for their personal guard while the federal government is in hiding and the military is preoccupied. That gives these ten ‘kingdoms’ time to consolidate power. They’ve already declared people living outside the camps hoarders and outlaws. Thankfully, they’ve only been going after small groups near the FEMA camps. By aiding FEMA to a small degree, I hope to keep us out of their purview.”
“Wow. Is it that bad?”
“Not yet. Ostensibly the camps are aiding the rebuilding effort and feeding and protecting citizens. It could get out of hand if it goes unchecked. Power corrupts. They’ve outlawed guns outside the camps. They say it’s to help protect people from terrorism and extremism. However, Americans won’t serve kings, and the biblical people will have a huge concern with the implications of ten kingdoms in what they see as the end times.”
“Sheesh. I never thought about that part. Are they going to focus on us?”
“Not right now. We are paying taxes and providing some small relief efforts. They can’t worry about us. They have too many other easier targets. Our hope is that society gets back on its feet before they get too ensconced in power. We have kind of an uneasy truce.”
<< Big Jim >>
It had been two weeks since Big Jim sent Clyde after Vince, Liz, and their group. To make matters worse, one of the security men Dave Cavanaugh sent down from Colorado disappeared about the same time Vince’s team left. Big Jim called in one of the ex-soldiers Clyde had recruited that he’d been leaning on lately.
“Alex, I need you to get one of the satellite phones up and running.”
“Sure, boss. I thought we were keeping all that stuff under wraps?”
“We are. I need you to keep this to yourself. I need to do some damage control.”
“I’ll bring it up to your place later after I’ve checked it out.”
A few hours later after fortifying himself with a few shots of tequila, Big Jim made the call to the ops center at SOP-Town. One of the mid-level people who worked for Louis took the call and immediately offered to go get Dave or Louis.
“No, don’t do that. I’ve only got a few minutes before this transistor fries out,” Big Jim lied. “I need to give you a status report for Dave before I lose the signal.”
“Go ahead. I’m recording you and taking notes,” the man in Colorado said.
Big Jim read through his prepared notes as if it were a script in a play. “Things are fine here. The Faraday cage was faulty and all the electronics equipment was fried. We have food, water, and are secure. We will call if we need. One of the security men, Gary Canfield, that was sent down here from Colorado went rogue and raped a woman and killed her husband. He’s on the loose and may be headed your way. He may lie to hide his crimes, so be wary. Most importantly, Vince Cavanaugh, Liz Pendleton, and a few others came through here a couple weeks back. We offered to escort them up to you fellows in SOP-Town, but they were intent on heading east. We gave them vehicles, food, fuel, and escorted them as far east as possible. They were safe and headed east toward Memphis last we saw.”
“Roger that! That’s great news, Turk-Town. The boss will be pleased.”
“Don’t count your chickens yet,” Big Jim advised. “We did have a couple refugees come in from the east that talked about chaos around Memphis on the route they took. They saw some shot-up trucks and people that resembled Vince’s team close to Memphis, all unconfirmed. In either event, I wanted to let you all know.”
“Understood.”
“If they don’t show up in Kentucky in a couple weeks, I’d begin the search around Memphis.”
“Roger that, Big Jim, thanks for the info. Do you all need anything from here?”
“No. We’re good. Don’t waste resources on us. I’ve only got about thirty seconds left before this phone fries out. We’ll get another working in a few weeks. Until then, don’t worry about us.”
“Roger that. Be safe and thanks for the info, Turk-Town.”
Hanging up the phone with a huge Cheshire cat grin on his face, Big Jim turned to Alex. “So what do you think? Did they buy it?”
“Boss, I wouldn’t want to buy a used car from you. You’re damn good.” Alex sniggered. “I believed it, and I knew the whole time every word was a lie.”
“You know what will happen if anyone else ever hears of this conversation, right?” Big Jim asked in a menacing way.
“Of course, boss. Don’t worry about me. I like taking over Clyde’s spot, and I love running the cathouse. Clyde spent too much time in the field. I like taking care of things here at home, especially some of the ladies.”
“Well, we still need to expand our reach. We need satellite settlements, more cattle, and a larger security force.” Big Jim’s eyes were gleaming.
“Yes, sir. I’ve got some ideas on all that. What say we go have a drink at the cathouse and talk about it?”
After a moment of hesitation, Big Jim said, “Yeah, let’s do that. Today calls for a celebration!”
“The girls will love that!” Alex said mockingly. Big Jim had a reputation of being an abuser and terrified whatever girls had to take care of him. The only thing worse than an angry Big Jim was a drunk and happy Big Jim.<< Ellie >>
> It had been a week since Ellie found the note that Kate had left with Matt and his parents for Louisville. Since then, she’d been practically impossible to live with. Even so, Malcolm had been a saint. Ellie’s mood ranged between anger and tears and everything in between. She couldn’t understand how Kate could so deeply misunderstand the danger and corruption in Louisville, especially in light of all her father had taught her. She was so much like Vince in so many ways that this note and move came as a huge shock.
To make matters worse, now the community didn’t have any doctors. Fortunately, they didn’t have any current major medical situations going on, and the various first responders in the community handled the smaller issues. In order to work through her grief and disappointment, Ellie threw herself into her work with a single-minded passion. They’d done all they could at the trading post near the community, and she was intent on pushing trading posts further into the country. She’d also been working with Don Allen on a method to teach other local communities to build walls similar to C-Town. In those situations, Don’s people could teach and offer security support while Ellie did the same with trade and administration. The more widely they could spread the chartertown Arks concept, the more stable and self-reliant they could make this region and the better off everyone would be.
Ellie had heard the rumors of the ten kingdoms of FEMA and DHS control. It was all jokes and rumor; however, if it did turn truly evil, those kingdoms would be like parasites of an old world class system that preyed upon the people they were supposed to help. This left Ellie more convinced than ever that the Arks concept needed to expand similarly to spread a benevolent influence to counteract the evil.
With all that in mind, Ellie’s surprise at being contacted by the Louisville FEMA camp was tremendous. They wanted to announce a trading post set up downriver at Harrods Creek in the old Captain’s Quarters Restaurant and Marina. She was even more surprised to learn that her own daughter had been a driving force behind organizing it and reaching out to Ellie at C-Town. While Ellie was still hurt by Kate’s departure and the way it was done, she knew her daughter well enough to know that this trading venture was her way to apologize and try to make something positive out of the situation. At the same time, Ellie was sure Kate didn’t understand how much over her head she’d gotten herself and the fire she was playing with. She could only hope she would get some time to talk with Kate at the trading post and convince her to come home.
