Society's Collapse: The Bug Out

by Jeremy Lock

  Chapter 75

  The sun rose and it shone brightly into the window of the trailer. Jason used his arms trying to block the light from his eyes. His head pounded as he propped himself up on his arms. He sat forward letting his feet hang off the end of the bed and began rubbing his temples. The night before had been a nice release, he was almost able to escape the realities of the world around them. But this morning as the crushing hangover throbbed in his head, the rest of the needs and problems came flowing back into his head. They needed more space to live, more space to store things, someplace to hide with more security. He needed to think and the best way he could do that would be to get to work. He pulled on his boots and his coat and headed out to the wood pile and started splitting wood. As he worked he let his mind wander. He needed a cabin, a cave, something that they could live in or store things in. They could build a cabin, it would be weeks of hard work, maybe months, but it was doable. But they didn’t have months, he needed something soon. With the number of weapons and food supplies around they would be ripe targets for anyone trying to sneak onto the property for a peak. He decided to talk to the rest of the group about it over breakfast. He went inside and started the coffee and some hot water for oatmeal as he continued to think. Once everything was ready he went to wake up everyone for their breakfast. They were all hurting as least as much as he was so it wasn’t a quick process, but eventually he got everyone up and together.

  “So, I’ve been thinking and I think we need more space and a place to store these guns and food supplies, if not we will become a target if anyone sees anything.” Jason said.

  “Who’s going to see anything? We’re in the middle of nowhere.” Jeff said between bites of his food.

  “I don’t think we’re that alone out here, there are towns within 20 miles and people from those towns will be out to loot, scavenge and escape from the towns at some point. The cities will go first, but people will leave there and head to towns, then the towns will become unstable and violence will ensue. Eventually it ends up in the rural and remote areas like here.” Jason replied.

  “What are you thinking?” Sean said.

  “Maybe you know of some caves or something on the property, maybe an old root cellar? I don’t know. I’d love to build a cabin with a basement but without heavy equipment it would take months and the ground will freeze solid here soon.” Jason replied.

  “There are some small caves up the ridge, but nothing you could live in. I have been in them as a kid but they were hard to get into when I was little and they aren’t very big once you get inside.” Sean said.

  “They may work for storing are weapons then, but we still need more space for living. Do you think we can build a cabin before the heavy snows and cold blow in?” Jason asked.

  “No way. The wood needs to dry before you build a cabin and you don’t want to use the dead wood. We could cut some trees for the spring but not right now.” Sean replied.

  “Why don’t we find another trailer?” Teddy asked.

  “Too Dangerous.” Jason said blowing her off.

  “Why is it too dangerous? I think it’s the best idea I have heard yet.” Jessica replied angrily.

  “We don’t know what’s going on out there. I don’t think we should be venturing out there right now. If we can hunker down for the next 3 or 4 months a lot of the violence will be over between the winter cold and the gangs killing each other off.” Jason replied.

  “Ok, then here’s what I think. Until the living arrangements are better, the girls will stay here in the new trailer and you boys can live in the old trailer. That way privacy isn't an issue anymore.” Jessica replied coldly.

  This did not appeal to the guys at all, but it appeared that the women were fully supporting Jessica’s stand and they weren’t going to back down. Until the living arrangements were fixed no one would be having any fun. The boys went back to the firewood pile and hoped they could come up with a solution.

  Chapter 76

  As night fell Miranda and James prepared to move out. They had loaded almost everything on the sled and were ready to head out. The day time temperature had risen into the 40’s and a good deal of the snow had melted, but there was enough to use the sled but there wouldn’t be for long. They moved quickly to get out of town before daylight it would take about 8 hours to hike to the cabin and they would use the darkness to cover their movement. They hoped that it would either snow again or the snow would melt to cover the path of their escape. They moved in silence for 3 hours and then took a quick break to eat a little and warm their hands by the fire. As they warmed the chatted idly about mostly nothing until Miranda brought up a sensitive subject.

  “So did you see combat while you were in?” She asked.

  James only nodded in reply.

  “Where?”

  “Iraq, Afghanistan, and a few places we should have never been.” James replied flatly.

  “You mean like black ops kind of stuff?” Miranda asked

  “Sort of, but I can’t talk about it.” James said trying to avoid the subject.

  “So why did you leave the Air force? She asked.

  “Well, that is a long and complicated story. I had a rough time dealing with some stuff and lost everything. I lost my wife and my kids, my house, everything I had. I decided I needed a change so when I had the chance to get out I took it and traveled a lot. I was lost, I guess I’m still lost.” He said.

  As they started walking again they continued to talk.

  “What happened?” Miranda asked with true concern.

  James walked for a moment in silence. He had never spoken to anyone about what had happened. The deep dark spiral that had turned his life inside out and upside down. He had never ever wanted to talk about it before, but today was different. He had a feeling, a sensation that he could trust this woman. He had never trusted a woman after his wife and thought he never would. Be here he was, he barely knew her but he felt like opening up. But his brain still tore at him, repressing the feelings of pain and misery that lay just below the surface. He wasn’t quite ready for this.

  “I really don’t want to talk about it. Let’s just say I lost it all and it’s been a rough time for me.” James said hesitantly.

  Miranda got the hint. “So how much further is it?” She asked.

  “4 or 5 more hours. We should get there around sunrise.” He replied.

  They continued to walk, but now in silence. James and Miranda both in deep thought. She was no stranger to the mental anguish but James’s was different, deeper, he really was lost. But maybe she was meant to help him find his way. The thought warmed her as she walked through the cold darkness.

  As the sun began to rise James picked up his pace. He wanted to get to work. The cold was coming and it was going to be a very cold winter here in the Adirondacks. Within an hour they had arrived at the small cabin and James immediately got to work. His first job was running the chimney pipe for the old woodstove up through the damaged roof, then it was time to repair the roof the best he could. He knew he wasn’t going to be able to insulate the roof properly without another supply run, but the woodstove was a large one and should be able to keep the cabin warm with enough firewood. Miranda helped him where she could. She lugged chimney pipe, roofing materials and the heavy timbers for the roof without complaint. They worked in near silence, only speaking when necessary and soon fell into a rhythm. James took a break for a few minutes around noon while he was on the roof. The sun felt wonderful and warm and he enjoyed the rays shining down on his face as he lay back. Then out of nowhere he got a strange sensation. He immediately knew what the sensation meant and jumped off the roof to find Miranda. He found Miranda inside the cabin cleaning up all the debris off the floor. He quickly went inside.

  “What’s wrong?” She asked.

  “I think someone is coming.” He said handing her the rifle. “It’s a bolt action, chambers 5 rounds, if you need more they are in here.” He said handing her the satchel of ammo. He t
ook the .357 revolver and grabbed his bow and headed for the cabin door.

  “Where are you going?” Miranda asked with concern.

  “I’m going to go east and intercept them before they get here. If it’s only a couple they won’t even get close but if they get within 40yds of the cabin take them out. No one can be left or more will come back.” He said coldly.

  “How do you know they aren’t friendly? Miranda asked.

  “They are tracking our trail from yesterday, I killed one of their men yesterday and they will kill us.” James replied as he quickly left the cabin and moved to the east.

  James moved nearly silently through the snow covered woods. The snow made it simple for him to move both quickly and silently but he would be more visible if he was spotted by one of the attackers. The hillside he was moving up was covered with rocky outcrops and James decided he would use one of them to set his trap. His bow would allow him to kill silently and he hoped he could pick them off one at a time before they got near the cabin. He set himself up behind a large bolder clearly left centuries ago when glaciers had covered the area. As he waited for his prey he tried to relax himself by slowly controlling his breathing. The adrenaline pumping through his body caused his breathing to accelerate and from there his body to shake. He needed that under control. He closed his eyes and let the sounds of the forest fill his senses. The flapping of wings and squawking of squirrels told him his prey was getting close. He opened his eyes and allowed them to adjust to the light reflecting off the snow. Using his peripheral vision he looked for movement focusing on anything that caught his attention. A swaying branch, a running squirrel, a flying bird, a walking man. His eyes found his target and locked on it. He was a big man, bald with a heavy beard, tattoos up his neck carrying a shotgun. The man was reckless, barely looking at his feet and making incredible noise considering the blanket of snow cushioning every step. As he watched a second and third man followed the lead man through the forest on a direct path to their cabin. It was clear what their intent was, his instincts had proved him right once again. As he watched the three became four and then five. He waited for the group to get by before he would start his attack. Five were more than he bargained for. Two or three would be doable but there would be gunfire involved. As the 5 man passed him James made sure there was no one else following. With that done he drew back his bow and took aim through the peep sight. Aligning the fiber optic pin at the base of the man’s skull and pulled the trigger on the mechanical release. The arrow flew true striking the man exactly at the point of aim. The man dropped instantly without a noise other than the weight of his body crunching in the snow. He immediately pulled his next arrow from the bow mounted quiver and set it in the rest and then clipped the nock to the string. Within seconds the bow was again drawn back and aim was taken. This time James aimed at the center of the man’s upper back. The man was nearly 30 yds. away and he wanted to make sure he had a kill shot. As he watched the arrow hit its mark James was on the move. He nocked his 3 arrow while he quickly moved through the forest trying to cut the distance between himself and the 3 lead men. A guttural moan from the 2 shot man helped James catch the men, but now they were alerted that something was wrong. James counted on the fact that the men would come and check on their comrade and he took up a position to take a shot. He watched the three men come together but only one went back to check on the others. The other two kept a lookout for trouble. They too had instincts but theirs were not as honed as his, they had not had to run and hide and survive where everything that moved was an enemy, not once but twice in their lives. James watched the man as he approached his fallen partner who was now dead. The arrow had passed through the man’s lungs causing massive hemorrhaging. James was 15 yds away and ready, as soon as the man stopped to check his friend James let the arrow fly, striking the enemy directly in his left ear and lodging in his brain. The other 2 men saw this and looked for their attacker, weapons raised and ready to fire. They were nearly 50 yds. away and near the maximum effective range of the bow. James drew the bow back and aimed at the head of one of the 2 remaining enemy. His bow was only sighted into 40yds and he had to allow for the arrow to drop. He released the arrow and watched its flight and then its impact into the man’s abdomen. His partner quickly brought up his rifle and fired in the direction the arrow had come from. James took cover as the rounds were close enough that the man might just get lucky. Squatting behind a large pine tree he waited for the firing to stop. James drew his bow back and as the firing stopped, turned to fire his last remaining arrow. He watched the man running as fast as he could away from James, and towards Miranda. Panic overtook James rational thought and he fired his last arrow which fell just feet short of striking the running man. James dropped the bow and started on a full out sprint as he drew the small .357 revolver. As he ran recklessly through the woods a flash of light and searing pain shot through his left arm. He turned on instinct, and fired a single round into the head of the wounded man who had just fired at him. Without slowing he sprinted towards the last man without thought or hesitation. He had to protect her, it came from deep inside him and overrode every bit of training and instinct he had ever been taught. The report of another gunshot spurred him even faster, as he approached the cabin his fear was almost overwhelming him. He had his gun up in his right hand as he looked for danger. As his eyes swept toward the cabin he saw the body lying just outside the door. He was back to running to check in a near panic but as he approached he finally realized the body was a man, not a woman. He slowed as he approached keeping his weapon pointed at the man, he bent down and checked the man’s pulse and found none. Half the man’s head was gone had James taken the second to look, but he franticly looked around for Miranda. He looked into the open cabin door but it was empty. As he turned to look around the area he found her, rifle raised, taking cover behind a fallen tree. Recognition in her eye, she stood and lowered the rifle. James ran to her, quickly looked her over for injury and then embraced her tightly. Then he pulled himself back, looked into her eyes and then kissed her passionately. She returned the kiss and then they stood there holding each other for a long moment as the adrenaline slowly wore off. Then almost on cue the shakes began and Miranda became weak in the knees. James helped her sit on the fallen log and then he sat next to her. He knew this was coming and had prepared himself. James controlled his breathing and told Miranda to do the same. After the shaking subsided James knew that lethargy would come next. He could push himself through, he had done it before. He helped Miranda back into the cabin and had her lay down and he went to deal with the bodies. He started with the body next to the cabin. First he gathered the man’s weapons and ammunition. A Colt 1911 pistol with two full clips and a M1 Garand fully loaded. He also found a backpack which had a full box of .45 acp and ten 10 round stripper clips for the Garand. The pack also contained a coat, several cans of food, 2 bottles of water, a half full bottle of Jim Beam whiskey and several packs of cigarettes. James kept the items in the backpack and then pulled the body to the river’s edge before moving to the next body. By the time he was done he had a .308 hunting rifle, a mini 14 .223 rifle, an M4 sized AR15 and a Mossberg 500 12 ga shotgun. He had 40 rounds for the .308, 200 rounds of .223 ammunition and 31 rounds of 12 ga shotgun shells 6 buckshot and a box of #5 birdshot. He also found a quality sheath knife and 2 pocket knives, a tent, 2 sleeping bags along with several more cans of food and bottles of water. He had 12 packs of different cigarettes 2 more bottles of whiskey and a bottle of vodka. He rounded up the items and brought everything into the cabin. Miranda woke when he came in and James handed her the AR15.

  “I assume you’re familiar with this gun?” James asked with a smile.

  She grabbed the gun, ejected the magazine and cleared the action in one smooth move and inspected the weapon. “It’s dirty” she replied.

  “It’s yours, so I guess you should clean it.” James said as he pulled out two cans of pork and beans and set them on the woodstove.

&n
bsp; “I’ve never killed anyone before.” Miranda said her voice shaky.

  “He would have killed you if you hadn't killed him.” James replied.

  “I know. I’m not sorry I did it. How can you be so calm?” She asked.

  “I’m not calm, I just knew what to expect. I already know that these men will haunt my dreams for the rest of my life.” James replied coldly.

  “How many people have you killed?” she asked.

  The real total he didn’t know, but he knew how many he had been close enough to see their eyes before he had killed them. They visited him almost every night.

  “With the 4 I killed today, 26.” He replied.