Society's Collapse: The Bug Out

by Jeremy Lock

  Chapter 12

  Money and Jewboy had worked out a plan after they had figured that the power wasn’t going to come back on, now he was just waiting for the right time. After watching the Officers habits working without the elevator system and having to use the emergency stairways he knew he had an opening. He also noticed that the same officers had been on for over 24 hours. All he had to do was wait for dinner, and the time was closing in. He didn’t have all the answers he wanted but he had enough. He knew the radios weren’t working but didn’t know about the phones so he couldn’t act too early. He waited until the Officer entered the dayroom to let the Officer entering the stairwell with dinner in. Jewboy was waiting, the clock didn’t work but he knew it was close. As soon as the Officer entered the dayroom he started banging on the door yelling for help. Normally the Officer would have waited for backup but he knew no one was coming. Besides it was Greenburg and Werts and they were never trouble. Money had learned long ago how to “Jail” as they put it. Follow the obvious rules, be respectful and be friendly with the cops and they cut you a lot of slack. Officer Ross had only been at the jail for 9 months and was just getting to really learn the ins and outs. He approached the cell where Jewboy was yelling and looked in. Money was on the floor and appeared to be seizing. Jewboy waited till the Officer went for his keys and then acted. He kicked the door open right into the Officers face, knocking him to the ground. They had blocked the lock earlier in the day and the Officer hadn’t noticed. In a flash Jewboy had his “shank” in his hand and was stabbing Officer Ross in the neck while covering his mouth. Mike was up next and ran next to the stairwell with the keys. A few of the other inmates saw what was going on and started yelling but Money silenced them with just a look. Moments later a knock came from the stairwell and Mike slipped the key in, opening the door. The second Officer didn’t know what hit him when Money’s hand smashed him in the face, knocking him unconscious instantly. Mike grabbed the man and dragged him back onto the unit. Mike had already decided who was going with him and who was playing what roll, and none of them would complain. Mike wasn’t planning on escape though, that was too easy. Mike was taking over. Mike had one of the inmates who closely resembled the unconscious officer take the Officers uniform off and put it on himself. Then he brought another Inmate down the stairs like the Inmate was having a medical emergency. Both of these Inmates were from rival gangs and would be given the opportunity to change gangs if they survived this operation. If they refused Money had clearly told them what the penalty would be. They were both highly motivated. The men walked down the stairs into the courtyard. The Officer standing post at the bottom of the stairs was armed and tensed when he saw the Inmate walking down holding his stomach but once he saw the Officer he relaxed.

  “He’s really sick” stated the imposter.

  The armed Officer approached. The Officer looked right but he still felt something was wrong. Had he slept properly over the last 2 day he may have had a chance but by the time he realized something was wrong they were already on him, stabbing him with their homemade shanks. He was quickly disarmed and the weapon was brought back to Money as were their instructions. Money took the Glock 21 and the 2 extra magazines. The gun felt good in his large hands. Now was his time to act. He brought six other men with him to the other floors and had quickly eliminated the other officers in the building. The male Officers went quickly, but unfortunately the female Officers were not as lucky. Money gave the 2 female officers in the building to the 6 men he had brought with him. They were used to the thugs’ satisfaction before they both died. The female inmates were not abused. They all agreed to join the gang and after Money had taken his pick of girlfriends he gave the rest to his lieutenants. If they served them well they would be allowed to enjoy the spoils of their conquest. The gun safe in the central command center was left open so the men had access to 10 pistols and 2 shotguns along with a large quantity of ammunition. Money was also told by one of the “trustee inmates” that there was an armory located in the administration area of the building. Money sent Jewboy and 4 other guys down there to find out. Money was working his way through the units deciding who would be allowed to join his group and who was to be eliminated. All sex offenders and snitches were immediately executed. Members of rival gangs were given a choice, change or die. They all changed without exception. He had a trusted group of 6 men who would be his lieutenants and Jewboy would be his #2. Money worked his way down through the building and found his way into the medical area. Here he found 2 men sitting against a wall, high as could be, with pills strewn all around them. The two nurses on duty had both been raped and were dead in the corner. Money grabbed both men by the throat and lifted them up off their feet. He was going to kill them right then and there with his bare hands but thought differently. He threw the men to the ground and had a few men drag them down into the courtyard. Mike then ordered all the men to the courtyard, he sent the women to the kitchen to see what kind of food there was. When all the men were present Money made his announcement. There were 180 men in the courtyard. Money told Jewboy what he wanted and Jew boy quickly sent one of the men to do it.

  Chapter 13

  “Men, I’m sure that most of you know me but those that do not can call me Money. I am going to make each of you a proposal and you can take it or leave it. Any of you here who wish to leave are free to do so at this time. My proposal is to take back from society the freedom that they have taken from me. As many of you may have figured out, there is no law, no cops, and no judges. It’s everyone for themselves and I plan on being the biggest baddest motherfucker out there. We will take from the weak what has been taken from us. If you aren’t interested you can leave now, if you stay understand that I am in charge. If you don’t like it then kill me and you can be in charge. I will give you 5 minutes to decide.” He shouted.

  He then went and quickly spoke to Jewboy. He noticed 10 older men who looked like they wanted to leave but were afraid of reprisals. The first man left without incident and the remaining 9 quickly followed. They were all old men who were alcoholics and not much of a resource to him anyways. 170 men, the largest force within 50 miles. Money Mike was going to own this county. He smiled. After the 5 minutes were up Money nodded and the two men who were found getting high were strapped to the chain link fence by wrists and ankles.

  “Now I want everyone to understand what it means when I say I am in charge. I will provide what you earn by my good graces. If you do well you will be treated well. If you take from me I will make you pay.” Money pronounced.

  Without a word the 2 men’s bellies were sliced open, their entrails hanging out. Even through the drug induced haze the two men moaned in agony.

  “These men took from me and they are now paying for their theft.” Mike continued.

  “Now let’s get something to eat and rest up for tonight. Tomorrow we begin our fun.” Mike headed for the kitchen with his men following.

  The night was very good indeed.

  Chapter 14

  Jeff and Jason arrived home at 2pm. The day was much longer then they had planned and they had tons of work still to do. Jessica had met them at the door with a shotgun in hand and both Jessica and Allie were wearing their side arms. Jason was pleased. They unloaded both vehicles which took nearly 4 hours and it was nearly dark when they finished. Jason had nearly forgotten about Mark with the events of the day and when he arrived in the driveway Jessica had forced him to prone out at gunpoint until Jason had intervened. Mark was quickly introduced to the rest of the group. Mark was shown to Jeff’s room that they would share, and then was quickly put to work moving gear. Jessica went inside and cooked up several steaks for dinner which was ready just about the same time they were done unloading all the gear. They sat down and all ate hungrily. After dinner Jason and Jeff brought Mark to the basement bunker and was shown around.

  “Have a seat” said Jason showing Mark to the couch.

  Jeff went into the armory and pulled out some equipme
nt while Jason spoke.

  “Mark, I know all of this is a big shock to you, but I want you to understand a few things. Jeff and I have been preparing for something like this to happen for several years and were quite prepared. I’m a cop and Jeff is a paramedic and we’ve both done a lot of tactical training. You are going to get a crash course in weapons training starting tomorrow morning. Things are going to get dangerous very quickly here and we have to be willing to defend ourselves. How much experience with guns do you have?” Jason asked.

  “Well I’ve hunted deer and birds with a shotgun before but that’s about it.” Mark replied seeming somewhat overwhelmed.

  Jeff brought out the weapons and gear and laid it on the table. Jason picked up the weapons while he explained what each gun was.

  “This here is a Remington 870 12 ga shotgun, are you familiar with it?” Mark nodded so Jason continued.

  He picked up the next gun. “This is a Smith and Wesson AR 15; it’s a 5.56 caliber semiautomatic rifle. It’s almost the same as the military M4 rifle, its accurate out to over 600yds in the right hands.” Jason picked up the pistol.

  “This is a Smith and Wesson M&P 9mm pistol. The rest of us carry Glock’s but I didn’t have an extra so this will have to do. Additionally I’m going to give you a tactical vest and extra magazines for the guns. You picked up the camo clothing I told you to get?” Jason asked.

  “Yeah I got 3 pairs just like you said.” Mark replied.

  “Ok good. All these are yours. I’ll give you the shotgun for tonight until we can go over the others in the morning.“ Jason said walking over to a refrigerator.

  He pulled out 3 beers and they each took one.

  “Tonight you are going to learn how to field strip and clean all 3 of these guns until you can do it in your sleep. Jeff and I have plans to make but we will be here if you have any questions.” Jason said directing Mark to a workbench with gun cleaning equipment.

  “Any questions?” Jason asked.

  “Um, I’m sure I have a million questions but I’m not sure what they are at this point” Mark said with a half-smile and headed to the workbench.

  Jason and Jeff went over their plans for the next day. They decided that the 2 of them would split watch duty for tonight until Mark was trained and come first light Jeff would take Mark out back to the range while Jason started setting the camera and motion sensors. At lunch time Jeff and Mark would take a break and come help Jason. They knew they needed to start looking at their fuel situation and Jason really needed to fix the charger for the solar system. They decided that they would work on the solar system as soon as the motion sensors were up and then they would look at syphoning fuel from disabled vehicles the day after if things still seemed to be calm. Jeff and Jason inventoried their surveillance equipment and then pulled out the communications gear. Jason had 10 Kenwood vhf radios that would operate on 32 different channels. Additionally he had 2 mobile radios and a base station radio that they would hook up at the house. He also pulled out a police band scanner which they turned on and would monitor night and day for communication from the upstairs command post they would be setting up next. The “Command Post” was actually just a loft area upstairs outside of the bedrooms that had access to the 2 balconies on either side of the house. They setup the laptop, base station radio, scanner and the multiband radio on a table and brought up a computer office chair. Watches would be conducted through the camera system and a system to wake up people was setup if the on duty person had a contact. After a couple hours and a few questions Mark was able to takedown and field clean all the guns quickly and efficiently. He then was given a magazine for the pistol and rifle and repeatedly changed the magazines; it would be his nightly ritual.

  Chapter 15

  The next morning the house was woken up at daylight, to the disdain of both Jessica and Allie. Jason told them they would get used to it; their new schedule would be work from sunrise to sunset. Jason got up and fed the chickens while the girls started breakfast and coffee. After a quick breakfast everyone went to their assigned tasks. Jason headed off with Allie to set the motion sensors and cameras. Jeff and Mark headed to the range area for gun training. Jessica stayed inside and setup the radio gear and would do equipment checks with Jason. By noon all the trip and motion sensors were up and operating properly. Everyone broke for a quick lunch of the last of the cold cuts in the fridge and then went straight back to work. After 2 hours all 4 cameras were setup and were working properly. Jeff and Mark went back to the range and Jason went to repair the solar charger. Jessica and Allie got out the kerosene hurricane lamps and set them in all the main rooms of the house, they needed to conserve what battery power they could get for the security system. Jason quickly found that a fuse and several microchips on the printed circuit board were bad and was able to replace them easily. After hooking the system back up he tested it and everything worked properly. Jason was thrilled, he wasn’t sure he was going to be able to fix it. With only 2 hours of light left Jason decided he would hook the generator up to the battery bank and recharge the batteries for the night. While the generator was running Jason decided he would set up his long range antenna array that he had collapsed in pieces in the bunker. They might need the space in there anyways. It was a simple system of a multiband antenna which connects to several 8’ lengths of galvanized threaded pipe with 2 heavy duty clamps attached to the side of the house off the northern balcony. With 6 sections of pipe the antenna rose 30’ over the peak of the house which should give him much better reception particularly with the shortwave radio. Jason brought the line down and connected it into the command center where it was attached to the multiple radio systems. Jason decided to try scanning the shortwave radio frequencies since they would travel the farthest. He was immediately rewarded by a station, however it was in French, which Jason didn’t speak a word of. He continued his search and found a fuzzy BBC rebroadcast of the news. It was hard to here but Jason thought he heard the broadcaster say something about a terrorist attack and that Air Force One was down and the president was missing. The static was so bad that it was barely audible and Jason figured he would retry tonight when the generator was off and the radio signal was stronger. Jason got the girls and they all went down to the range to join Jeff and Mark. They all brought their weapons down and Jason figured he would let everyone get some trigger time in, after today the only time guns would be fired would be in self-defense. Mark turned out to be a pretty competent shooter with the pistol. Shotgun and rifle fire were pretty teachable to anyone but pistol shooting was far more sensitive and Mark shot pretty well. He would certainly be able to pass his bi-annual law enforcement range qualifications. Now the real question was, how would everyone, including himself, handle themselves under fire? He and Jeff had done ok in their first engagement but Jeff was clearly not 100% mentally afterwards and Jason had yet to actually shoot at a target. He prayed all their training would work. They all went back to the house for what Jason knew was going to be the last relaxing evening. Come tomorrow they would begin treating the world as a dangerous place.