Society's Collapse: The Bug Out

by Jeremy Lock

  James trudged through the burned out town the weight of his pack causing pain to shoot through his lower back. Pain is just weakness leaving the body. He told himself over and over, just has his instructors had told him throughout his military career. He knew they were right, he needed to build up his strength again, he was not in the physical shape he once was. He walked through the flickering small fires left burning throughout the town when I sign caused something to stir in him. After 10 minutes he was back on the road, his pack several pounds heavier yet himself feeling more comfortable with his situation. As the night drew on he found himself out of the town and walking through burned out farmsteads and into the smoldering forest. He would walk through the night and by daylight he would have more answers.

  Chapter 59

  The sun had set several hours before as Jason, Jeff and Sean turned the keys forward on their vehicles. It was a difficult moment for Jason most of all. To leave the comfort of his home, all his provisions, his whole life was immensely difficult. But his family and friends were still alive, and for that he was overwhelmingly grateful. He and his family would face whatever came their way together and they were stronger now than they ever had been before. They had been tested and proved to be more then capable but circumstances beyond anyone’s imagination had caused them to leave their home in search of safety in the rural mountains of upstate NY if they could get there safely.

  Sean would take the lead in his pickup with Cassidy as the passenger, towing the horse trailer loaded down with horses, tack, feed and the chickens. Jeff would follow in his Jeep along with Teddy and the dog, towing the utility trailer which was heavily loaded with tools, weapons and building supplies. Jason, Jessica, Allie and Mark were all in the Suburban towing the travel trailer filled with their food supply. Every vehicle was loaded for bear and they all hoped the old vehicles would hold up under the strain. They were driving at night, without headlights, using their Night vision optics to keep them on the road but it was a slow laborious process avoiding the abandoned cars, moving around multiple accidents and watching out for ambushes. Thankfully the weather had turned cold so there would not be many people out overnight in the sub-freezing temperatures. They had over 250 miles to drive, trying to avoid major towns and cities and they would only be traveling at night. They made it 85 miles the first night, completely without incident, and found an empty parking lot just out of view of the road where they pulled off and decided to sleep, in watches, for they day.

  Chapter 60

  As the sun rose, James sat on a small ridge over what was left of Fort Drum. He peered over the crater that covered the entire base and James wondered if it had been a Nuclear weapon that had taken out the base. James drank deeply as his emotions overtook him and he began to cry. He had lost everyone he had ever been close to now. The Major was the last man he could be close to. The last man he had been in combat with, a man he shared so much with, and now he was gone. He thanked himself for making the stop he had as he drank again from the bottle of Makers Mark. He knew this routine well, drink until the pain went away and he could sleep for a while, and then it was back to the bottle to get through the day. Right now he didn’t care what lay ahead. He would drink until he couldn’t drink anymore and he would pass out right here overlooking the gravesite of his last friend, his only friend.

  James awoke with the afternoon sun shining in his eye aggravating his already pounding head. He rolled over, squinting his eyes away from the light and rolled to a sitting position. He grabbed his water battle and chugged the entire bottle down in less than a minute while taking two 600 mg ibuprofen. He then relieved his bladder and decided he would eat before moving on. He pulled out his maps as he heated up some of his waning food supply and looked for a place to go. He wanted a place by himself, no neighbors, no problems, just himself living off the land doing as he pleased without the emotional attachment to anyone. As he looked at his map he took a swig of his whiskey to clear his head. It wasn’t hard to find the spot. 20 miles due south were thousands of square miles of state park land. He had his plan. Walk south until everything felt right, until he knew he was in the right spot. Then he would setup camp and live in the middle of nowhere, off the land, without others, worrying only about himself. As he ate he decided he would stay the night and then set out in the morning. He was in the wilderness with little chance of seeing anyone else and he would be able to move much more quickly during the day. He had about 2 hours of sunlight left and decided he would make camp here. Nothing too fancy, just a quick shelter to keep out the wind and trap some of the heat reflected by the fire. He had grabbed a few tarps from the sport shop along with some para-cord. He used the smallest tarp, an 8 x 8 ft, and quickly strung it between two trees in a simple lean to style. He then took his hatchet and quickly gathered a number of spruce bows and lined the bottom of his shelter and leaned a layer against the tarp as insulation. With the plentiful rocks he built a fire ring and a heat reflector to force more heat into his shelter. Within 90 minutes he was sitting in his sleeping bag in his shelter watching the sunset with his bottle trying to hold back tears. “Not too much tonight.” He told himself, putting away the bottle. He needed a clear head tomorrow if he was going to move out. As he tried to sleep questions filled his mind. Why was he here? What had happened to the base? Why had he been in the hospital? Fitful sleep found him slowly long after the sun had set.

  Chapter 61

  At sunset they were back on the road, everyone was looking forward to the prospect of getting to their destination. The insecurity and discomfort of living in a car was already getting to them. They had all discussed the option of pushing through into the daylight in the morning and just get where they needed to be. They figured that if things went well they could make it by late afternoon tomorrow and they would be much safer. Sean didn’t like the idea and from his military experience and his experiences early on during his drive north from Virginia his advice was not taken lightly. They had finally decided that they would discuss it around sunrise and make a decision. They were all in radio contact so the conversation would not require stopping. The crawling pace of the trip was certainly draining. If they were on a highway and traveling at speed they would have arrived the day before and would be settling into their new home, but they still had at least 16 hours of driving to go and they were all sick of it.

  Chapter 62

  James awoke with a clearer head than the day before but he had not slept well. A dream haunted him throughout the night. The image of his friend dressed in battle fatigues and the man’s voice, but they were disjointed.

  “I need you to come see me.” Said the man in the dream.

  ”But I’m here.” James replied.

  “It’s important; I need to see you immediately. It involves national security.” Said the Major.

  “Major, I’m right here!” James pleaded.

  “I know it’s a long flight but I have no one else to turn to James, please.” Said the figure in his dream.

  The dream continued this way until James was screaming and the Majors body exploded. James awoke covered in sweat, his heart pounding looking around at the unfamiliar surroundings trying to place where he was. The long fingers of sunlight were creeping through the latent wisps of smoke as the sun began to rise. James couldn’t watch the dream again, he just couldn’t take it. He started breaking down camp to move out for the day. He looked at his map and decided to head through the outskirts of Watertown and see what was happening there. He would need supplies at some point in the future and the intelligence would be important. He repacked his tarp and other supplies and covered all sign of his camp and began to walk southward.

  Chapter 63

  Another uneventful night of driving made for a tough decision in the morning. They had started driving on rural back roads and started making much better time. They had covered nearly 150 miles overnight and the property was temptingly close. 2 hours tops and they would be there. The choice to keep going was unanimous but h
e was vehemently against it. He got tired of fighting over the radio and pulled his truck to a stop. He tenderly got out of the truck, his gunshot wound clearly still painful, but he never complained. They all stood outside around the Jeep to hash it out. Sean’s point was extremely valid. They still had to travel through one of three towns or cities: Syracuse, Utica or the Town of Oneida which lay in between. They had no other options; no roads went around without heading many miles out of the way. At night they would have the advantage of stealth, but during the day they would be extremely tempting targets. Cassidy backed Sean out of loyalty but she seemed tired of driving as well. Jason decided he would referee the debate and refused to state an opinion but in truth he hoped those who wanted to continue on won out. He was sick of driving and sick of the truck. They had driven over 200 miles without any problems not even the sign of a problem. In the end a vote was called for. Jason abstained from the vote and the result was 5 to 2 to keep going. Sean was not pleased and let everyone know it. He also said that he wouldn’t allow Cassidy to ride with him and be in greater danger because we couldn’t be patient and had made such an immature decision. Mark volunteered to take her place in the passenger seat of the pick-up and soon they were again heading north. Jason had a lingering sense of guilt about the decision and almost had made an executive decision to stay after the vote but he told himself it was just Sean’s rebuke and they would be fine. Cassidy rode in the back of the suburban in complete silence, she refused to even make eye contact with anyone, she just stared out the window. Jason hoped that once they made it to safety all would be forgiven and forgotten and everything would return back to normal.

  Chapter 64

  James moved more cautiously as he approached the town. The sound of gunfire in the distance announced its proximity and James had a pretty good idea what he would find. It was the same everywhere. When the structure of law and order was removed the power vacuum was always filled. Usually it was the biggest, most powerful person or group or a number of groups who would battle for it. In either case the citizens of the area would be the ones to pay. James plotted his course to go to a peak of a hill about 2 miles away from the town. There he would have a good view of the town but have little risk of being spotted. As he got in position he barely noticed the incredible view of the small town placed between the wilderness and rolling hills with Lake Ontario behind it in the distance. To the casual traveler the view would be breath taking, but James was not in the mood. He was on a mission and his mission was to gather information about the town. Using his binoculars he looked into the center of town and began sweeping his glass through the streets. There were several stores that could be very valuable but they were mostly in the center of town, which would make them difficult to scavenge stealthily. Several localized fires and their remnants were still visible around the town as well as several bodies that lay dead in the street. A handful of people moved cautiously on the streets but very few. The rumble of motorcycles got James’ attention and he quickly centered his binoculars on the group of bikes riding into town from the direction of Lake Ontario. James noticed that the people in the street heard the bikes as well and they quickly scampered for cover. James counted 12 bikes carrying the tattooed men and their scavenged or stolen loot and followed them to what appeared to have been a fine restaurant at one time. The bikes parked, joining several other bikes. James counted over 30 bikes in the lot but the lot was partially obstructed so it could have been more. James had seen enough. No security in the streets but a large presence of the “Angels” as the man in the last town called them. James pulled out his map and decided he would travel through several old farms that lay on the outskirts of the town and he could make the woods at the beginning of the forest by nightfall.

  Chapter 65

  Sean crept down the main road into the Town of Oneida slowly, keeping a close eye on his surroundings. It was the only road heading south, out of the town, and would be a prime spot to set up an ambush. The road was cut into the side of a hill with a guardrail on the left and a hill on the right, the road was the only way to get through. Jason was seeing it too and he wanted to speed up but Sean wouldn’t listen. He was the only man who had been in combat and Jason had to trust his tactical expertise but his thought was they would be a harder target if they were moving quickly. Sean came to a near stop as they rounded a bend in the road. Two vehicles smashed into the guardrail on the left side of the road leaving only one lane to get passed. It looked suspicious and Sean wanted to get a good look. From 30 yds. away Sean observed the area for movement but didn’t see anything. He slowly started forward again keeping a close eye on the area and ordering Mark to watch the hillside for movement. At 10 yds from the accident it happened in the blink of an eye. A small car came barreling down the hillside blocking off the only lane of travel left. At nearly the same instant the gunfire started. All the vehicles were hauling trailers; there was no way they would be able to turn around without getting shot to pieces.

  “Fuck! It’s and ambush!” Sean yelled into his radio as he hunkered down, keeping the engine block between the gunmen and himself.

  “Contact right!” yelled another voice as the gunfire increased.

  Sean knew he had to move. He looked up to Mark and made eye contact. He grabbed the door handle and popped it open. With his FN in hand he exited the truck putting heavy fire into the vehicles in front of him. Using his own cover fire he made his way to the guardrail and worked his way over it. Jeff had pulled Teddy over the driver’s side seats and they were using the heavy tires as cover while Jeff used his shotgun to fire into the woods above him. Jason got lucky. He was about 20 yds. behind Jeff’s jeep when the gunfire started. He stopped his truck and got everyone out. He setup Jessica, Allie and Cassidy up behind the truck and had them pouring fire into the woods. Jason worked his way up the hill with his AR in hand; he was going to flank the enemy. Jeff and Teddy got caught in the open. Teddy was not performing well under fire as it was but now they were taking fire from the front and the left where the ambush had started. Sean and Mark were nowhere to be seen. He had to get out of the kill zone. He knew enough military tactics to know he was up shit’s creak right now and if they didn’t move soon they were both in serious trouble.

  “Teddy!” Jeff yelled without response. Teddy sat huddled against the tire of the truck, gun on her lap, her head down and was crying.

  “Teddy!” Jeff yelled again as he grabbed her by the arm.

  “What??” She said, coming back to earth.

  “We have to move! Run to the guardrail, I’ll cover you!” Jeff yelled. Teddy looked bewildered but nodded her head.

  Jeff started firing and Teddy ran taking cover over the side of the guard rail. Jeff reloaded and emptied his rifle again and then he ran. Fire coming from his right as he ran had at first frightened him but then he realized that it was Sean providing him covering fire. Jeff looked to Sean and Sean nodded and then disappeared into the brush.

  Jason crept through the brush quietly, using the sounds of gunfire to track in on his targets. He approached the first group, there were three men armed with hunting rifles and shotguns. They were all grouped together behind a fallen log aiming down towards his wife. Jason didn’t hesitate. He quickly and expertly fired three rounds into the torso of each of the men and then approached; kicking away their weapons and moving on. As he approached the next group of two men he noticed that there was almost no more gun fire. He noticed the two men here were talking and no longer firing and it appeared they were looking to retreat. Jason pulled up his rifle and ordered the two men to put down their weapons and place their hands on their heads. Jason marched them down the hill and out on the roadway. The gunfire had completely stopped. His two prisoners were pleading for their lives but Jason wasn’t listening, he wanted to be sure that his friends were all ok. He saw Jessica, Allie and Jeff and felt a world better. Next he saw Sean hoping over the barricade and reloading his pistol.

  “Cover these two while I search them.�
� Jason said to Sean. Sean held the two men at gunpoint and Jason prepared to search them. Sean fired two rounds, one in each of their heads, and holstered his pistol.