by Mark Goodwin
“Yep. Sent us all home. Like something out of E.T. or Close Encounters where the government quarantines the site of an alien landing. What about you?”
“Same thing.”
“So, what brings you to my fair state?”
“My dad left us a cabin up here. I thought I’d buy a few things. You know, stock the pantry. I figured it will be a good place for me and my brother’s family to lay low if things get hectic.”
“I guess you found something in your network.”
“What makes you say that?”
Gavin dropped his menu on the table and looked her in the eyes. “You thought I was overreacting two days ago when I mentioned buying a few extra items from the grocery and taking some money out of the bank. Now you’re literally heading for the hills.”
“I’m not heading for the hills. I’m just being prudent. What you said made sense. I was wrong to say you overreacted.”
“Hmm.”
The waitress approached the table. “What can I get for you folks?”
He picked up his menu again. “Kate?”
“I’ll have the trout.”
Gavin perked up. “In that case, may I please order the bacon-wrapped meatloaf?”
“Sure. It will be out shortly.” The waitress took the menus.
“Why did you say, in that case?”
“You ordered the fish, which at least means you’re not a vegan. Lots of girls in the tech space think they have to eat like they live in Silicon Valley.”
“If I were a vegan, you would have ordered a vegetarian meal?”
“I don’t know about vegetarian, but bacon-wrapped meatloaf is almost the antithesis of everything a vegan stands for. But, considering it’s you, yeah, I probably would have ordered a salad.”
“Why? What do I have to do with it?”
“Oh, come on. You were the hottest chick at DefCon.”
She blushed and looked away. Kate sincerely hoped he wasn’t toying with her. “Stop it! That’s not even close to true and you know it. What about all the girls in the little shorts and the outfits hocking the latest antivirus software?”
He put his hands up. “Okay, I’ll meet you halfway. You were the hottest girl at DefCon who wasn’t paid to be there.”
Still, that was a very high compliment. One Kate did not feel herself to be worthy of. “If you’re not just kidding around, then thank you.”
Gavin interlaced his fingers and put his hands on the table. “Are you going to make me beg?”
“I have no idea what you’re talking about.”
“What did you find on your machines?”
She pressed her lips together tightly.
He said, “You’ve already violated the NSL. If this was some elaborate sting operation, you’d already be on your way to a CIA black site. In for a penny, in for a pound.”
She whispered, “The network had multiple instances of malicious code.”
“Okay, that’s vague, but it’s a good starting point.”
“One seemed to be a logic bomb, a triggering device for other viruses. The other one was more complex than anything I’ve ever seen.”
“You have a copy of the Stuxnet source code, right?”
“Yeah. This was exponentially more elaborate. And it wasn’t even written in a standardized language.” She continued to provide more details about what she, Albert, and Mendoza had discovered.
Gavin listened keenly.
Lunch arrived and the two spent the next hour talking about the intricacies of the multiple pieces of new malware that had emerged over the past week.
Afterward, the two exited the restaurant.
“Are you in a hurry? Do you have time to walk around and see if we can spot a good place for dessert?” Gavin asked.
“Yeah, I could hang out for another hour or so, but I do have a mission to complete.”
“I understand. Don’t let me keep you from doing what you need to do.” He looked slightly disappointed.
Kate wondered if the good looking, dark-haired, guy who actually liked the same things she liked might actually be interested. She’d had guys flirt with her before who weren’t really interested. She wasn’t good at reading between the lines when it came to guys and didn’t want to deal with the disappointment if Gavin wasn’t genuinely attracted to her. Still, she didn’t want to frighten him off if he was. “You’re welcome to tag along if you want. I’ll just be wagging groceries up the hill to the cabin. Kinda boring.”
“I’d be happy to give you a hand. Sounds like it might be a chore that would go faster if you had some help.”
“Okay.” She smiled. “Then at least let me buy dessert, as a thank you.”
“Deal. I need to stop by my vehicle and check my phone. I want to make sure work isn’t trying to reach me.”
“Where did you park?”
“In the public lot across the street.”
“There’s plenty of open spaces in front of the restaurant.”
“Yeah, but I wanted to make sure I wasn’t being tailed.”
“And you accused me of being paranoid. What about that big speech you gave me about the NSA not having resources?”
“Oh, they could hire a PI or a private contractor to tail me. The government prints their own money. It literally costs them nothing. Cash is not a limited resource for them. But everything else I said still stands.”
“Whatever.” Kate looked around at the beautiful mountains that laced the horizon in every direction.
“What are you thinking of buying? Just food and stuff, or are you going all-out survivalist?”
“I wouldn’t know where to begin for all-out survival. I’ll buy some canned goods and hope it isn’t too bad.”
“That’s better than nothing. I don’t really know what else to do either.”
Kate paused when she reached the street. “What’s that place, with the red awning?”
“Beats me. You know more about this town than I do.”
“Yeah, but I’ve never noticed that store before. Carolina Readiness Supply. What kind of readiness do you suppose they specialize in?”
“Maybe readiness for a massive computer virus that’s about to end the world as we know it. Only one way to find out.” Gavin seemed to have dismissed his concerns about whether his job had tried to contact him and walked briskly toward the glass storefront beneath the red awning.
Kate quickened her pace to keep up. She read the signage aloud as they approached the store. “Solar generators, heirloom seeds, first aid kits, water purifiers, sounds like these folks have been thinking about what if for a long time.”
“Sounds like we might need a few more items than just some canned goods.” Gavin held the door open for Kate.
She stepped through the door and spent a few moments just looking around.
“Can I help you?” A gentleman asked.
“Uh, yeah. Maybe so.” She didn’t know where to begin.
CHAPTER 10
A prudent man foreseeth the evil, and hideth himself: but the simple pass on, and are punished.
Proverbs 22:3
Kate examined a selection of water filters hanging on a rack. “What type of readiness, exactly, does your store specialize in? I mean, is there a specific event that people who shop here are preparing for?”
“I’m Bill.” He offered a warm handshake.
“Nice to meet you. I’m Kate, and this is Gavin.”
“Folks who come in here are typically concerned about a variety of possible disasters. Economic collapse, EMP attack, civil war, pandemics.” Bill chuckled. “I even get a few people now and again getting ready for the zombie apocalypse. I don’t think most of them are serious. It’s probably just funny to show their friends that they have a gas mask and a machete. But who knows, maybe some of them believe in it. I’m not judging. Plenty of folks laugh at us for prepping.”
Kate picked up a small USB solar charger. “I see. Let’s say someone was concerned about social unrest, maybe due to a
system’s failure in the banking industry. What types of items might you recommend?”
Bill walked closer. “Every event has its own small set of special preparations, but ninety-nine percent of it is the same, whether you’re talking about an EMP, the zombie apocalypse, or a failure of the banking system. When you say system’s failure, are you talking about a bank holiday like they had in Cyprus a few years back, or do you mean a cyber-attack?”
Kate was hesitant to get more specific. “Either one I guess. Just hypothetically.”
Bill didn’t press her. “For both of those scenarios, it makes sense to keep some cash outside of the banking system. Of course, that’s true for an EMP, pandemic, or most any other threat. If you have significant assets, you might want to think about converting a portion of your cash into gold and silver. Dollars will be king for the first few days of a collapse, but that party won’t last long.”
A woman walked into the back door. “Hi.”
Bill introduced her. “This is my wife, Jan.”
“Hi,” Gavin said. “Are you two . . ?”
“Preppers?” Jan finished his sentence.
“Yeah, I guess, if that’s not an offensive word or anything,” said Gavin.
She replied, “I’ve been called worse. But to answer your question, yes, we believe in being ready for whatever.”
Bill put his arm around her and pulled her close. “We practice what we preach.”
Kate moved over to the shelves stocked with plastic buckets full of long-term survival food. “What about general readiness?”
Bill said, “Think about the things you need to survive from day to day. The most basic elements are water, shelter, food, and security. If we ever have a serious crisis, starvation, dehydration, and violence will be the big killers. And when I say security, I’m not just talking about guns. Most bad stuff happens at night, so you have to be able to see in the dark. Best case scenario is to have some reliable night vision, but that can get expensive. At a bare minimum, I’d recommend some decent weapon-mounted flashlights. And communications—your security team has to be able to communicate with one another. You’ll need some type of radios. We carry walkie-talkies, and we also carry hand-held Ham radios. Unless it’s an emergency, you need a license to transmit with the Hams, but not to listen. Of course, a complete collapse of society would qualify as an emergency in my book.
“Now, all those electronics won’t last long if you don’t have rechargeable batteries and a way to recharge them. The cheapest solution is a portable solar panel and a universal battery charger, which connects to the USB in the fold-up solar panel.” Bill retrieved examples of his recommendations from the shelf for Kate to inspect.
“A glitch in the banking system isn’t going to affect the power.” Kate studied the products.
Gavin took one of the foldable solar panels and a charger for himself. “The attacks earlier this week affected communications, emergency services, and transportation. It’s hard to say whether any future attacks might disrupt electric services.”
“That’s true.” Kate took the items from Bill. She picked up a pair of walkie-talkies and some rechargeable batteries. “My dad left us a cabin up here, over in Apple Blossom Acres. So shelter is pretty well covered.”
“Our friends have a place in there. Big lots. Very nice community,” Jan handed a basket to Kate.
Kate offloaded the growing pile of gear into the basket and carried it by the handle. “We’re on a well, I can’t imagine anything would hurt our water supply.”
“Then you’re on an electric pump. If the power goes out, that well won’t do you much good,” said Bill.
Jan walked to the next aisle and came back holding a small Sawyer water filter. “Water is such an important commodity, it wouldn’t hurt to have a backup plan just in case. You can live about three days without water, but they probably won’t be the best three days of your life if you’re dying of dehydration.”
“I’ll definitely take one of these.” Kate placed the filter in her basket and shifted her focus to the long-term-storage food. “How many food buckets would I need for six people?”
“Depends on how long you are planning for.” Jan followed them down the aisle.
Kate couldn’t even imagine how long things might go haywire if all the banks went offline. “Let’s say one month for starters. I’m also going to make a few trips to the grocery and figure out how much everything costs. I’ll probably be back for more.”
“Okay, one month of food for six people.” Jan looked at the food buckets.
Kate’s eyes darted to Gavin then back at the food. She wasn’t about to invite him to come survive the apocalypse with her without getting to know him better. And even if she did decide to do such a thing, she’d have to discuss it with Terry. Nevertheless, she figured it couldn’t hurt to have a little extra on hand. “Better make it seven people.”
“Fine,” Jan responded. “Are you more concerned with value or quality?”
Kate bit her fingernail. “That’s a good question. Is there a middle-of-the-road brand that you’d recommend?”
“Mountain House is good. Being so close to the Appalachian Trail, we have campers who come in here for Mountain House. It’s not the apocalypse, and yet it’s their first choice for a good hot meal on the trail. That speaks volumes. It’s not the cheapest option, but you could offset it by taking a few of the Augason Farms buckets to bulk up the calories.”
“Okay. Can you load me up with a variety of each brand?” Kate selected a few tactical flashlights and brought her merchandise up to the counter.
“Sure. If you want to pull your car up to the front door, Bill will help you load.”
Gavin winked at Bill. “I’m guessing this isn’t the first time you’ve been volunteered for such a task.”
“That’s very perceptive of you.” Bill grinned.
Jan rang up the total and Kate paid her in cash. She was surprised at how much food she’d bought for the price. “I’ll be right back.” Kate sprinted across the street to retrieve her Mini and drove up to the door.
All of the supplies wouldn’t fit in Kate’s Mini, so Gavin brought up his Jeep Cherokee to haul the rest.
Afterward, Kate led the way to the cabin, where Gavin assisted her with unloading the stockpile into the garage beneath the house, which accounted for approximately half of the basement space.
“You can fit a lot of supplies in here. You might want to pick up some cheap shelves at one of the big-box home improvement stores if you’re still planning to buy a bunch of canned goods.”
“Good idea, thanks.” Kate looked at the small amount of space occupied by her first haul and calculated how much room would be necessary for six months’ worth of food.
“Have you thought about security? Bill said that’s in the top four most important survival elements.”
“My dad kept a pump-action shotgun here. Maybe I’ll pick up a few more shells for it.” She tucked her hands in her back jeans pockets. “What about you?”
“I have a small 9mm pistol that I keep on my nightstand. But I’m thinking about getting something a little more serious. You only have the one shotgun for your entire family?”
“Yep, just the one. But it’s pretty quiet up here. I can’t imagine things would get so bad that we’d need a bunch of guns.”
“I hope you’re right. But, you should probably take the shotgun back to Atlanta with you. Do you know how to use it?”
“Yeah. My dad taught me to shoot when I was a teenager. It’s been a while, but it’ll come back to me.”
“Good. You never know, it could be rough getting out of the city if everything falls apart.”
She crossed her arms. “Maybe I will take it back with me. I should probably have my brother look at it and make sure it’s in good working order.”
Gavin looked at his Jeep. “I guess I should get going.” He glanced back at Kate. “Unless you need help making a few runs to the grocery.”
She wanted to ask him to hang around a little longer, but she didn’t feel right making him haul her supplies if she wasn’t going to invite him to come to the cabin when things got bad. It was simply too soon for that. “I’ll be fine. I need to think about what I’m going to get before I go to the store anyway.”
He looked a little disappointed. “Sure. Thanks for having lunch with me. Let me know the next time you come to North Carolina. Maybe we can hang out again.”
“Okay, I’d like that.”
His expression lifted. “Great, we’ll talk soon.”
“Yeah, see you soon.” She watched Gavin get into his Jeep and waved.
CHAPTER 11
But if the watchman see the sword come, and blow not the trumpet, and the people be not warned; if the sword come, and take any person from among them, he is taken away in his iniquity; but his blood will I require at the watchman's hand.
Ezekiel 33:6
Sunday morning, Kate drove south on US 23. The road passed through picturesque mountain landscapes, and besides passing through a few small towns, remained very rural until it approached Atlanta. She called Terry on her way home.
“Hey, Sis. How did it go?”
“Not bad. I spent most of the money you gave me.”
“That’s why I gave it to you. I appreciate you taking on the task. How much food did you get?”
“I think it’s enough to last us over six months. I bought a lot of food. I had to buy shelves to put all of it on. Did you know Waynesville has a store that sells survival stuff?”
“No kidding. Did you go in?”
“Yeah, I nearly bought them out.”
“I can’t imagine a store like that being able to stay in business in such a small town.”
“Evidently, a large percentage of the population is made up of people getting ready for one thing or the other.”
“Then I suppose it will be a good place to be if things turn south.”
“Yeah.” Kate kept her eyes on the road while she chatted with Terry on the speaker. “Did you buy some extra food for your house?”
