The Day America Died! Frozen Apocalypse: After the EMP- A post Apocalyptic America

by A J Newman

  “Yes, sir.”

  Ally, Joan and Sally had joined us and I asked them to guard Paul as he took the deer to the barn. These wolves were starving and would attack us for their supper.

  Suddenly over a dozen of the pack charged our position and we began shooting them as they closed the distance. We missed as many as we hit with the ARs, but Mike and Joan had shotguns with double aught buck and nailed any we missed. It was a massacre and soon there were six more dead and wolves were lying all around us.

  “Hon, what are we going to do with the carcasses? They will attract more predators if we don’t dispose of them.”

  I replied, “Damn, the ground is frozen so we can’t bury them. What the heck can we do with them?”

  One of the girls replied, “Put them in the metal garden shed, let them freeze and douse them with diesel fuel to cover their sent until we can burn or bury them.”

  “Great idea. Let’s load them into the bucket and move them to the shed.”

  I doubled the guard for the next several days in case the wolves came back and was glad I did. They tried to pick off one of our guards, but we killed them for their efforts. We killed another four before the attacks stopped.

  There were several other narrow escapes, but I was the only one who was actually injured by a wolf and that was because I fell down as one leaped at me. I shot it, but the bastard fell on me causing me to sprain my ankle.

  We went from boredom to sheer terror back to boredom in a week. Boredom wasn’t so bad after all.

  ***

  The house was a two story Colonial that would make any millionaire proud to own. It was on 125 acres, had a large stable, enormous garage, tennis courts and an indoor riding arena. The owner had sold his logistics company and retired at 55 to raise Paint horses and collect classic trucks and cars.

  The two women watched the house for several hours before approaching. They saw four men and a woman come outside in the sunshine and thought they saw another woman through a window. The men carried firewood into the house while the woman watched.

  Jackie looked over at her friend and said, “We need to have a good story to tell these people. I don’t think they’ll like the truth about us being kidnapped, raped and then thrown out of our rescuer’s camp for trying to steal their men.”

  “The blonde replied, “We were up in Indiana visiting a dear friend when the lights went out. It’s taken months to walk home. We’ve fought off attacks by criminals and wild animals. We finally got home and our families are dead. What can a girl do to survive? Boo hoo.”

  “I like that. Let’s add some detail and then walk in like we own the place. I’ll tuck the pistol into my pants in case these people become a problem.”

  The women walked up to the front of the house and yelled to catch the owner’s attention. Jackie didn’t want to be shot because of any misunderstanding. They saw the door open and two men with rifles walked out on the large porch.

  ***

  “Hey George, I hear someone yelling out front. Grab your rifle.”

  “It looks like two women. Be careful.”

  George walked out on to the porch with Wes right behind him. They saw two women dressed in expensive snow gear waving at them.

  Wes looked and George and said, “This looks interesting.”

  “What do you want?”

  The women walked closer and the red head said, “Sorry to disturb you, but we’re from about 10 miles south of here and are trying to get home. We’ve been on the road since the lights went out.”

  “We still want to know what you want.”

  “Just some water and a place out of the snow so we can rest up. Your barn would be ok.”

  A voice came from inside the house, “George, bring those girls in right now before you all die from pneumonia.”

  “Follow us.”

  They followed the men into the house and the woman introduced herself, “I’m May Owens and this one is my husband George. The other is my son Wes.

  Y’all must be frozen. Come on over to the fireplace and warm your bones. We ain’t had any company since fall. No one travels much and a lot of them are thieves and scoundrels. Let’s get those heavy clothes off you and get you warm.”

  May was a plain woman dressed in a long skirt and a fancy white blouse. She wore no makeup and looked like she could kill you as soon as look at you.

  They took off their heavy gear and sat down by the fire. May brought them a bowl of soup and a glass of tea.

  “Ma’am, thank you so much. We camped about five miles north of here in an old barn, but couldn’t get much sleep because there were bad men roaming around. We’ve been eating jerky and cold soup for days. This is like heaven having a warm fire and a bowl of hot soup.”

  “Don’t worry, you’ll sleep good tonight. We ain’t fancy people, but we are hospitable.”

  Jackie knew something was wrong as the drug dulled her senses. She slid her hand under her blouse, and tried to pull the pistol free when she passed out.

  “The last thing Jackie thought as the drug took affect was that these people don’t match the house. Hillbillies don’t own mansions.”

  “Mom, why did you knock them out? They weren’t hurtin’ nobody. I want the skinny blonde for me. You can sell the red head.”

  “Wes, stop thinking with your dick and use your head every now and then. Don’t these girls look familiar?”

  “Mom the red head looks just like the one uncle Alf has. I’ll bet they’re sisters.”

  “Dumbass, it’s the same girl. Look at the bandages on her ankle. The last time I saw her and the blonde they were chained to a bed. Your dad and Alf were taking turns with ‘em.”

  “Mom, why would my uncle let them go?”

  May rolled Jackie over and she saw the pistol on the floor.

  “This bitch must have shot Alf and escaped. We’ll have to go visit my brother and see if’n he’s okay. Meanwhile chain the red head to your bed and the blonde to my bed. We might as well have some fun with them until we see what happened to Alf.”

  Wes replied, “Maw, that’s why I love you so much, you let me have pretty toys.”

  Her husband replied, “I like toys.”

  “Yes, and it keeps you from rooting around on me all the dad burn time. Enjoy her until we have to give her back to Alf.”

  Jackie woke up with the younger man on top of her and knew she’d jumped from the frying pan into the fire. Those other people weren’t so bad and now she wished she’d stayed with them and behaved. She heard her friend scream from the room next door and began thinking of ways to kill these people.

  ***

  The Campground

  The worst of the snow storms were over with only occasional flurries for the past week. The sun was shining and it had been warm enough the past few days to begin melting and packing the snow.

  The problem was that at night the water froze and left a sheet of ice covering the driveway. I busted my ass several times walking out to fetch firewood. I was being much more careful now. Even though I wasn’t the only one, I was still the one that everyone saw. My friends are a cruel lot.

  “Paul, please make some channels in the snow on the driveway so the water can run off.”

  “Good idea, maybe then you won’t bust your clumsy ass in the morning.”

  “Paul, you were my favorite son in law, but now you’re in last place, asshole.”

  I turned to walk away, slipped on the wet ice and nearly fell again.

  My best friend Mike yelled out, “You look like a chimpanzee trying to roller skate for the first time.”

  “Screw you.”

  “It’d be the best you ever had.”

  A snowball hit Mike in the back and another…splat…hit him in the back of the head.

  “You’d better correct that statement. I have another snowball in my hand,” Ally replied.

  I looked up and Davi was throwing snowballs at everyone. She winced every now and then, but she was up and moving around.<
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  Suddenly there were snowballs filling the air hitting anything that moved. I started making snowballs and tossing them to Ally so she could throw them faster. She nailed Mike several more times before switching to Paul then Callie. We frolicked in the snow for over an hour until Joan called us in for lunch. Play, such a novel idea in this new world.

  ***

  May had George bring the two girls to the kitchen table and chain them to the table leg.

  “Good morning ladies. I hope my men weren’t too rough on you last night. Blondie, I’ll tell George not to hit you in the face. Hell, you look like shit and we won’t get much for you when the slavers come through in the spring if you’re all bruised up.

  You two need to do what we say and exactly what we say and you will survive this. If you want to avoid daily beatings, you’d better make my men happy.

  Now eat your bacon and eggs and tell me about the people at the church campground.”

  Jackie looked up and said, “What campground.”

  May slapped Jackie and knocked her to the floor as she said, “Lie again and I’ll have George come in here with his toys and show you what real pain is. Now tell us about the people in the campground.”

  Jackie started crying and replied, “What do you want to know?”

  “Is my brother still alive?”

  “No, they killed him and his son.”

  May went into a rage and knocked the breakfast dishes off the table.

  “Tell me what happened and who killed my brother.”

  Jackie was so scared she was trembling as she replied, “They knocked on the door and Alf tried to kill them, then they broke down both doors and shot him dead.”

  She went on to tell everything she knew about the people who had risked their lives to free her.

  ***

  Mike came in from early morning guard duty, caught up with me and said, “I think someone is watching us from the woods. I caught a flash of reflected light a couple of times on the west side of the property. I waited, made my rounds over that way and saw some tracks that I’m pretty sure aren’t ours.

  I also found some cigarette butts. I think they came in at night and watched until the sun was up before returning home.”

  “Let’s warn the others and get ready to defend ourselves. I’m thinking some trip wires, bear traps and ambushes. The guys we killed were selling women and drugs to someone. Those people are probably wondering what happened to their source of goods.”

  “I agree, I think they will case the place for a day or so and then hit us at night while we’re sleeping. We need to get more sleep in the day and have more of our team ready for a night attack.

  Zack, old buddy, why don’t we follow the tracks back to their place and attack them first.”

  “Oh, uh, yeah, I guess that’d work, too. Let’s get the team together and discuss a plan to attack them before dawn tomorrow.”

  “Whoa, Einstein, we haven’t tracked them back to their homes yet, and can’t track them in the dark. Let’s just follow them back to their homes in the morning and watch them a bit before we attack. Whew, man, you are getting quick on the trigger in your old age.”

  “Ok, ok, we’ll follow them home and make sure they are unfriendly before we start shooting. Let’s make that happen, good plan.”

  I asked everyone, but the guards to attend a planning session after breakfast. I intentionally included the four girls we had rescued since the ones watching are probably friends of their captors.

  I asked the girls if they remembered anything that would help us against this new threat.

  The oldest, Cindy, replied, “I remember hearing the men who captured us say they had family this side of Rolling Hills.”

  Another girl said, “They always chained us in our rooms when they were dealing and trading unless someone wanted a woman. We had another seven girls come through, but they got traded off to Alf’s friends and customers. They’d show us to the men like we were at a cattle auction.

  Some of the men didn’t like that they were trading women, but they still traded for drugs. I was shown to more than 10 men, but none of them was in the gang. I was loaned to four men for a day or two and they all lived 4-5 miles from here. People came from as far as Anderson to buy drugs and women.”

  I spoke to the team,” We could be facing three to as many as 10 of these piss ants. Let’s set some of the large traps to take out as many as possible today before they come back. Roger, I’d like you and Paul to work on the traps, while Mike and I get at the trip wires and booby traps.

  We will follow them back to their camp and be prepared to render them harmless when they get there. I would think they would gather around their returning people to find out what we are doing, and that’s when we attack.

  They won’t expect an attack. We’ll take out their guards with the compound bows.

  Paul, do you have two of your archers that can handle the bows at 150 feet?”

  Paul got thoroughly excited and said, “Absolutely Zack, from 150 feet they will never know what hit them. Come on, it’s only half a football field. I guarantee it’s much quieter than suppressed AR’s. Zack, consider it done.”

  I smiled, and said, “Thanks, Paul, we’re all counting on you. I know you’ll do us proud.

  So, after the guards are laid to rest we’ll throw a couple of grenades through a window and have snipers prepared to take out anyone trying to escape. It should be quick, deadly and we’ll be home before dark. Any questions?”

  Mike made everyone smile when he said, “…render them harmless? They ain’t big words, but they sure ere fancy.”

  When the tide of laughter died down, I raised my hand, and replied, “Well, yeah, it’s a bit fancy but I’m tired of words like ‘killin’. I thought it might in-ter-ject a bit of class into our planning session.”

  That, of course, got everyone laughing again.

  Davi raised her hand and asked, “What can I do?”

  “Get well; protect the clan if we don’t come back.”

  ✪✪✪

  ✪

  Chapter 9

  Operation Hillbilly

  The Campground

  Callie came along to help set the trip wires and was a big help in making sure they were all well hidden. All but a few were simply noisemakers to warn us of any approaching threats.

  We placed all of the trip wires, booby traps and animal traps close in the cabins so they wouldn’t scare off their scouts. They stayed about 100 yards out and probably watched us with the aid of binoculars.

  Callie asked, “Why are we taking so much time to install trip wires and booby traps when we will render them harmless tomorrow?”

  Smiling, I replied, “Baby girl, what if these aren’t the only threats in the area? The same traps will also warn of an attack by wolves and might even trap a few.”

  “Okay, that makes sense. We really need to make sure our guys don’t walk into one of those bear traps.”

  “I’ve told everyone to not go past the signs we put up that say “Camp Bear Paw.” I can’t help them much if they don’t pay attention.”

  Placing the trip wires was easy, but the traps were a bitch in the deep snow. We looked for places where the terrain and trees made natural paths down towards the main building.

  “Damn that spring is strong.”

  “It has to be to hold a bear after it’s triggered. Now you see why the mechanism has to be set with your feet outside of the jaws,” replied Paul.

  “I know we have safe paths for our travel, but are you sure we’ll be able to find all of the traps when the danger is over? The fresh snow covers them well, but we’ll eventually want to take them with us.”

  Paul showed Roger the black Para cord attached to the trap and said, “I’m tying a cord to every trap with the cord covered with snow and tying the other end to a nearby marked tree that is in our safe zone. We just walk to the tree and follow the cord to the trap. The wind will cover the traps.”

  We fini
shed installing the traps and trip wires by early afternoon and watched as the beautiful sunny skies slowly turned cloudy and dark. The dark clouds were scudding across the sky, bringing flurries.

  The wind picked up and began blowing the trees and rattling the window an hour later. Then the snow came in from the northwest. This wasn’t a heavy snowfall, but rather a light dusting with blowing and drifting.

  I was pleased to see the front move out quickly and leave enough snow to cover our work, but not bad enough to make the intruders stay home.

  We spent the afternoon checking and cleaning our weapons. I had to dig through my supplies to find the grenades and our military grade body armor.

  Our guards regularly wore the military grade body armor, but I wanted everyone on the raid to be more fully protected.

  We only had eight of the military models, so I planned to give them to the six men and then have the women draw straws to see who stayed clear of the fight and sniped at anyone trying to escape. Ally and Sally lost and were to join the men in the raid while Callie, Joan and Lynn became snipers. Lynn was over four months pregnant and we did our best to keep her away from danger, but she kept jumping in to every fight. Bert hadn’t fully recovered and his wife was useless with a gun.

  We covered our plans several times then started playing bean bag toss in the dining room to help settle our nerves down a bit.

  Ally and I had the 10:00 pm guard shift so we turned in at 7:00 pm and tried to get some sleep. The alarm woke me to see Ally watching me wake up. She had her head propped up on a pillow. She was softly rubbing my chest as the alarm sounded.

  I rolled over on top of her and tried to get amorous, but she pushed me away and said, “We don’t have time. I don’t want to be late. We have plenty of time for that after the raid.”