Cities on Fire

by A J Newman

  “Hey bud this is ours, and you need to get away.”

  “Aren’t you one of the assholes who wouldn’t join our group?”

  “Yes, and I’m still not. I’m taking my share of the food.”

  “Who told this jerk about the food?”

  One of the men who had joined the group replied, “I told him. He is my brother in law. We can’t keep all of this food to ourselves.”

  “That was our intention. I found the food and told the group that I would share the food with our group not everyone.”

  “We can’t let them starve.”

  “They will starve because they are too lazy to farm or work for food.”

  “Bob, gun,” Jack yelled.

  Bob pulled his .45 from his holster and turned just in time to see a blast and bullet whiz by his head coming from the asshole. Bob aimed, squeezed his trigger, and fired hitting the man squarely in the chest above his heart. The man fell where he stood.

  “You murdered my brother in law!”

  “He shot first, and he tried to kill Bob,” yelled Jack.

  “Your brother in law was a worthless drug dealer before the shit hit the fan and you are stupid for bringing him here. He probably was going the trade the food for drugs.”

  “What am I going to tell my sister?”

  “Tell her that her scumbag husband tried to kill a man and the man killed him in self-defense. The truth is always best.”

  The men picked the body up and placed it in the bed of the guy’s pickup. They helped him load enough food for his family and his sister’s but no extra. The man drove off to bury the body and explain what happened to his sister.

  Jack told Bob, “That man’s wife isn’t much better than the dead man. She was a drug user and part-time prostitute who plied her trade over in Carthage. I do feel sorry for Gary having to tell the assholes wife and kids their husband and father is dead.”

  “I hated killing him, but he left me no choice. Hell, I’d be dead if you hadn’t warned me. I owe you my life. Thanks.”

  “I think I know how you can help me and pay off that debt. I want to join your community. I was in the Army and handled base security at several small Army bases. We’ll talk after we deliver the food to the barn.”

  They finished loading their trailers and took the loads to Greg’s barn to store. They made several trips until all three trailers were empty.

  The rest of the teams had also completed their assignments. There were ten 500 gallon tanks filled with gas stored in Bob’s old barn, all of the supplies from the Quick Pick and Greg’s hardware store were stored in a barn across the way from Bob, and every man and woman in the work details were armed.

  Greg’s wife had made some sweet tea, and the group sat under a shade tree and held a meeting before leaving for the day. They all swapped stories about the car wrecks, plane crashes, and kids whining because the power was out, but Bob could see that they had a purpose and these people were coming together as a family would during a crisis.

  Bob said, “I think most of you know Jack Fulkerson. He and his family are joining our group.”

  They all shook hands and welcomed Jack to the team.

  Betty Lou, Greg’s wife, asked, “Bob, what do we do now?”

  Bob looked around the yard at the thirty some odd couples and a few single people and said, “We organize, plan, and succeed. We need to name a leader, a sheriff who’s in charge of security, and make assignments that focus on getting us through the next six days. Then we need a plan for the next month and then one for the next year.”

  Greg spoke up, “Bob, several of us have been discussing this, and we think you should be the leader.”

  Jack added, “Bob before you say no, could you at least take the job for a month to get us through the worst part. My discussion with you today convinced me that you know what to do to help us survive.”

  “Let me say something first, and you may not want me as your leader. Today I had to shoot one of your neighbors because he tried to kill me. Be prepared for that to happen numerous times in the future. Jack saved my life by yelling and warning me. Whoever takes leadership will have to rule as a dictator for those thirty days on security, food, water, and people issues. People will be trying to kill us for our food, crops, drugs and eventually our women.”

  “Betty Lou laughed at the women comment.”

  “Betty, the law will breakdown in the next two days. Scumbags will sell or trade anything to get drugs, food, and alcohol. The old adage that sex sells will take on a new meaning.”

  Greg asked, “Bob help us with this. What would you be dictating?”

  “Everybody pulls their weight and works. Every adult learns to shoot and protect the group. Everyone learns at least two new skills to help the group survive. A six-person jury will judge all violations, criminal acts, and any disagreements. You will pick the jury. Jack will be in charge of security during my 30 days leadership. He is an ex-military security specialist.

  There is more to come but as you can see these are tasks and policies to ensure the group survives and thrives.

  Any questions?”

  There were only a few policy questions and then Bob said, “I want a show of hands. Those that want me to lead our group for the next 30 days raise your hands. The majority wins.”

  Every hand was raised, and it was unanimous. They wanted Bob to lead them through the crisis.

  “Thanks for having confidence in me to lead this fine group. I need help for the next 30 days and all of you and your kids above 11 years old will get age appropriate assignments. Right now, I need Betty Lou to become our secretary, and her first assignment is to make a list of everyone’s names and list all of their skills beside their name. Highlight any police or military service.”

  “I’ll be glad to do both.”

  “Now, Greg, you need to start a perpetual inventory of all of the group’s supplies, food, and gas stored at the community warehouses. Sue, you are now our superintendent of schools. Figure out how to get our kids an education. I think we should stress skills they can use in this new world without calculators, computers, and Xboxes.”

  “I’ll be glad to. That will also help keep them out of trouble. All parents should give each child a list of chores to perform every day. They are going to be bored, and bored children are trouble.”

  “The meeting is over; however, I need Greg, Jack, and two volunteers to discuss shutting off access to our place in the Horseshoe. I know some like Jack live above the town, but we may be forced to have everyone come down here to live for safety when the hordes leave the cities. If I lived up there, I’d move down here now before being run out.”

  Jack said, “There are five families and four singles that live above the horseshoe. Where would we live? Bob, that was one of the things, that I wanted to discuss with you today. I agree and want to move down here.”

  “Well, I gave that some thought, and there are plenty of houses available. The old Jenkins place and the Tiller place have been empty for over a year. There are five nice log cabins, on the west bank, that are empty, and I doubt that Greg will rent them to any hunters or fishermen this year. I’m sure that the ones needing housing can work something out with Greg. We could also haul several trailers down here for people to live in until we figure things out.”

  The group disbanded, and Greg took the remaining members into the kitchen to have their meeting. Harold Hunter and Ned Kelly joined the meeting. Harold had worked in construction before he bought the store and Ned had been in the Military Police.

  “What do you think about sealing off our little peninsula and making it an island? The river is 300 – 400 feet across, which gives us a buffer from a major attack, but we have half a mile of open land at the top. Any ideas?”

  “Yes, I think it’s a great idea. I thought about this on the ride over here. I recommend that we quickly string Barbwire across the top of the Horseshoe with roving guards and then as fast as possible construct a more permanent barrie
r. The old nuclear plant over toward Hartsville should have plenty of steel that can be used to make a barrier.”

  Ned added, “I think Jack hit the nail on the head. We need something now and make it better later. We also need to pool our horses to help with guard duty. I have four, and I know several members of our group have horses.”

  “Our biggest problem is communication. With all electronics down, we are screwed when it comes to spreading the word.”

  Bob walked out to his truck and returned with three walkie-talkies. He gave one each to Greg, Jack, and Betty Lou.

  “I have one more in my truck and another four in a Faraday cage back at the house. They only reach five to ten miles, but that is more than enough for around here.”

  “I thought all electronics were destroyed by the EMP blast,” said Greg.

  “Any electronics stored in a metal box or metal garage without windows should be okay. The metal blocks the EMP waves. This also brings up a major point. Without us becoming lawless looters, we need to find sealed trailers, oversea shipping containers, and metal pole barns and search them for vehicles, radios and other electronics that might come in handy for survival.

  A TV and a DVD player will help break the boredom one day. I have a small shipping container buried in my backyard that doubles as a storm shelter that I placed several electronic items and I park my Kawasaki Mule in just in case something like this happens.

  Again, we don’t want to steal; however, this is our survival, and most buildings and dead vehicles are abandoned or will be abandoned this week. We need to get to the stuff before someone else does.”

  “I sure don’t want my husband in jail or shot for looting,” Betty Lou added.

  Greg quickly responded, “I second that motion.

  Bob smiled and said, “So, where do we look for food, medical supplies, guns, ammo, and vehicles?”

  Betty Lou went to her living room and came back with a phone book,” I assume that I can remember how to use this antiquated form of the internet to look up businesses.”

  That brought a round of laughter, and Greg replied, “See, that’s why I keep her around. Beauty and brains.”

  While Betty Lou looked up targets, the men made a list of warehouses from memory. There were the usual Walmart Kroger and Lowes stores on the list, and they also had industrial supply and car dealerships on their list.

  “Where is the closest rail siding where we can find trains loaded with trailers and shipping containers,” asked Jack?

  “I like your thinking, but the closest one is a few miles south of Nashville. We would have to drive about 50 miles each way exposing ourselves to people and police who would want our vehicles. I seriously doubt if there are very many groups thinking this far ahead right now, and I think we need to wait on that rail yard until the herd thins itself out before attempting that trip,” replied Bob.

  “Damn, that would be a gold mine.”

  “Yes, but this early most of the major retailers, transportation hubs, and gun shops will have guards just itching to shoot looters. We need to concentrate on abandoned vehicles on the highways, stores, and gun shops that we can barter with or talk out of items we need.”

  “How do we talk someone out of guns or food?”

  Bob offered, “We invite them and their supplies to move here to live safely.”

  “Damn good idea, but we must vet them to make sure that we’re not bringing another Hitler into our little community.”

  Betty Lou scratched her head and asked, “How do we start this search?”

  Bob replied, “We need two small teams hitting our targets every day until we either bring home supplies from the target or mark it off our list. No team is to try to steal or force someone to give us anything. We are a week ahead of any other groups in our planning stage. Being too early could get us shot.

  Oh, be on the lookout for a semi-truck that will run. That would make bringing supplies home much easier.

  Harold will lead one team, and I’d like Greg to lead another while Jack builds our Great Wall of the Horseshoe.”

  “If it’s okay, I’ll take Ned with me on my team. My two sons will round out my team,” replied Harold.

  Greg added, “Jack, could you ask Tony to join my team? I’ll add Wilma and her husband. They both hunt and could come in handy.”

  Betty Lou looked at the men and said, “Boys, I need some sleep and so do you. Let’s call this a day and start the fun again in the morning.”

  ✼

  Chapter 6

  Day Two – Friend or Foe

  Will rolled over and wrapped his arms around the girl as he slept. The thief had knocked her out the night before when she tried to run them off. It was barely daylight, and the sun had not peeked above the horizon.

  Jake stirred in his sleep and rolled over on a rock, which woke him from a sound sleep. He rubbed his eyes and saw his brother cuddled up to a pretty dark haired girl with a gash on her head and dried blood on her face.

  “Grandma! Grandma, wake up!”

  Jane lay there trying to sleep a few more minutes when she heard Jake. She rolled over and propped herself up on her elbow and signaled for him to be quiet. Jake waved and pointed at the girl.

  “What the hell? Where did she come from?”

  Jane crawled over to Will and gently shook him until he woke up. He yawned and tried to stretch, but the girl had his arm trapped below her. She was snoring and sound asleep. Will signaled to his Grandma that he didn’t know what was going on with the girl.

  Jane crawled over to the other side and saw the girl had a wound on her head and said, “Will this girl has been hit on the noggin. Did you go out last night and bring a girl back to camp.”

  “No. The first time I saw her was when I woke up.”

  “With your hand on her chest.”

  “No! I was asleep.”

  “I need to check her out. She hit her head, or someone hit her. Jake, go fetch me the First Aid Kit, a clean T-shirt and a bottle of water.”

  Jake walked over to their supplies, fetched the shirt and water, and returned to his Grandma. He handed her the items when suddenly his head snapped back to his left, and he yelled, “The bikes are gone!”

  Will ran up the slope and saw tire tracks and footprints heading toward the highway. He also found a trail of blood that he lost when the tracks got to the road. It bothered him that the blood trail ended heading in the direction they were going to go shortly. He was mad and shook as he thought about the bastards sneaking into their camp while all were asleep. He looked down and saw he had his pistol in his hand. That was the moment that he knew it was kill or be killed in this new dangerous world.

  Will walked back down the hill to the camp and saw his Grandma cleaning the blood from the young girl’s head. The gash was on the top of her head as though someone had clubbed her. Jane had cleaned the area, applied an antibiotic, and a bandage. The wound was above her hairline so it would be hidden.

  “Grandma, I think this girl scared the thieves away. There is a blood trail leading up to the highway and a rock with blood on it where we parked our bikes. I think she tried to scare them away and got clubbed for her effort,” Will said.

  “Good guess,” they heard the girl mumble.

  “Child, don’t move. You’ve been hit in the head.”

  “I was wondering why my head hurt so much. Have you got any aspirin?”

  “Yes dear. Missy, fetch two aspirin and some more water. Now tell us what happened.”

  The girl tried to sit up but slumped back down and said, “I was tired and was asleep under the other overpass when you came down the hill to camp. I didn’t think you were a threat, so I went back to sleep. Something woke me up in the middle of the night and I saw several guys stealing your bikes. I yelled at them and threw a rock. I hit one in the head and knocked his ass to the ground. One of the guys ran over with a club and swung it at me. I deflected the blow with my arm, but the club still hit me on my head. That’s all I remember.”<
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  “There was no telling what those men had in mind. You saved us from whatever they planned,” Jane replied.

  “They stole your bikes. That’s what they planned. It was a bunch of high school kids, and I’ll bet I know them. We were on buses heading up to Mammoth Cave on a field trip from school in Lebanon when the buses and all electronics died. There were about 80 of us counting the professors. My Mom and three kids were killed when our driver lost control and hit a dump truck.”

  “What’s your name?”

  “Maddie O’Berg and I’m from a small town east of Nashville, Lebanon, Tennessee.”

  Maddie, I know Lebanon, and I have been there many times. It’s not far out of our way, and we can drop you off with your father. Is he Senator O’Berg?”

  “My dad died a long time ago. My Mom and I have been on our own for almost six years. He was a jerk and very mean to my Momma. I hated him. Can I go with you to where you are going?”

  Missy spoke first, “Will would like that.”

  Will slapped her on the back of her head and asked his Grandma, “Can she come with us to the Horseshoe?”

  “I’m 17 and will be eighteen in October. I’m a good worker.”

  Jane thought for a minute and replied, “Certainly you can come with us. You risked your life to help us, and you are a good person. You will have to pull your own weight and help with chores to live with us. If you come with us, you have to do what I say when I say until you are 18 and then you are free to stay with the community or leave.”

  “I’m okay with all of that. I’m a good worker and will do my part. What are your names?”

  “I’m Jane Carter, and I’m the kid’s Grandmother, and my husband died years ago. This is Will, Missy, and Jake Karr. My daughter is their mother, and we are heading to their Grandfather’s home about twenty miles east of Lebanon. Their mother is a policewoman, and their father is a Nurse Practitioner.”