by Bobby Akart
Chief of Staff Acton nodded his agreement. “Madame President, Arizona and Maine have passed similar legislation. The concept is gaining traction in other Southern states.”
“Yes, but that’s a far cry from secession. Is secession even legal?” she asked. “I thought we resolved that after the Civil War when Lee and Grant met at the Appomattox Courthouse.”
Acton responded, “It’s my understanding that most constitutional scholars say no because it’s legally impossible. The Constitution has no provision allowing secession. The Supreme Court, in a case dealing with Texas following the Civil War, called the United States an indestructible union. Justice Antonin Scalia once wrote the one constitutional issue resolved by the Civil War was that there is no right to secede.”
“One thing is certain,” said President Harman. “If they tried to secede, they’d have a heckuva legal battle on their hands all the way to the Supreme Court.”
She checked her watch and stood, as it was time to walk across the hall to the Roosevelt Room.
“Madame President, before we go in, I wanted to let you know I’ve scheduled a meeting with the Chinese ambassador for Monday, as you requested.”
“Good. It’s time for us to exercise a little muscle on North Korea via their neighbors.”
Chapter 28
November 9
The Armstrong Ranch
Borden County, Texas
The Armstrong family had gathered around the table for a breakfast of scrambled eggs, country ham and red-eyed gravy, and grits, of course. Major had turned over the early morning feed chores to Preacher once again, who’d been very successful at the cattle auction. The Armstrong steers had brought the high end of the weighted average, which was in the range of one hundred fifty dollars per hundredweight—roughly eleven hundred dollars per steer. The cow-calf pairs had fared well at sixteen hundred dollars.
In simple terms, most cattle ranchers went to the bank each year to borrow the money to operate their ranches until the calves were sold in the fall. If they bought their five-hundred-pound calves in the spring at a dollar a pound, and then sold them as full-grown steers at the end of the season in October through November before the coldest weather came, they’d double their money, or better.
The Armstrong Ranch no longer borrowed money to operate, having reached a level of financial self-sufficiency many years ago. Now Major managed the ranch’s income to pay his labor costs and provide for his family. Running as many as two thousand head each year, the family was more than financially secure. It also enabled Major to invest in improvements to his property with an eye toward darker times.
“Daddy,” started Palmer as she finished off her breakfast and pushed the plate away. She ate nearly as much as her brothers, unashamed to feed her big-boned frame. However, she was blessed with girl-next-door beauty, which had been bestowed upon her by Lucy. “I have to ask. That’s a mighty big hole you’ve dug out back where the new barn is goin’. Are you plannin’ a two-story condo for the new quarter horses?”
Riley snickered as he sopped up the red-eye gravy with a biscuit. Part of it dribbled down his chin, and he quickly caught it with his sleeve. Despite Miss Lucy’s best efforts to instill manners in the boys, she eventually succumbed to their inherent cowboy nature and settled for simply having them potty-trained.
“Nah, Palmer, nothing like that at all,” replied Major. “Your momma and I’ve been talkin’, and we thought it was about time for you three to get a place of your own. So we designed an apartment out there under the barn.”
“What? No way, Daddy!” protested Palmer. She looked around the table and then chose her mother. “He’s pullin’ our chain, right, Momma?”
Miss Lucy simply shrugged and smiled before Major continued.
“Honey, we’d thought you’d appreciate us puttin’ you closer to your favorite chore—cleaning manure out of the horse stalls.”
Cooper began laughing and slapped Palmer on the back. “You’re so gullible, sis. Ain’t none of us gonna have to live underground.”
“You never know,” said Miss Lucy dryly as she stood to clear the table. “This nuclear standoff with the North Koreans has gone to a new level that can lead nowhere good.”
“Are you buildin’ a bunker, Daddy?” asked Riley.
“We are, son, and I want all of us to be involved. In fact, a lot is gonna happen today.”
Cooper got up from the table and grabbed some more dishes to help his mother. “I think it makes sense, considerin’ what’s goin’ on. We could be firin’ nukes at each other any minute.”
“Come on, Daddy. Really?” asked Palmer.
Major decided to recall the history of the nuclear threat for Palmer’s benefit. “Honey, ever since they used nukes on Japan, the world has feared a nuclear Armageddon where Russia and the U.S. shot at one another.”
“I know, Daddy. Mutually assured destruction.”
Major wiped his mouth with his napkin and pushed away from the table slightly to relax. “That’s right, Palmer. That was a phrase that argued for slowing the proliferation of nuclear arsenals between the two countries. But then China obtained the technology, followed by India and Pakistan. Eventually, it was no longer a Russian-U.S. issue. It became a worldwide issue.”
“The Cold War was between Russia and us, right?” asked Riley.
“Technically, it was between the old Soviet Union and the United States, but that’s basically the same thing. Politicians want to declare the Cold War to be over, but there will always be the potential for the Cold War to become a hot war involving nuclear missiles.”
Cooper returned from the kitchen and rejoined the conversation. “Whose bright idea was it to give nuclear weapons to those idiots in North Korea?”
“Yeah,” chimed in Riley. “I wouldn’t trust that fat kid over there to keep his finger off the button, would y’all?”
Everyone shook their heads from side to side.
“I think we’re all in agreement that a nuclear North Korea is very dangerous, and I believe it’s because they have nothing to lose. I’m not saying they’ll ever attack us. My personal opinion is that they’re building their arsenal to prevent us from attacking them. Personally, I don’t know what their long game is, but I do know the threat is real.”
“Daddy, do you think it’s possible to get in a nuclear war with North Korea? I mean, you know, where we shoot at each other?” Palmer seemed genuinely concerned about the prospect of nuclear Armageddon.
Major leaned forward and looked his three youngest children in the eye. “As you guys know from growing up under this roof, your momma and I have placed great emphasis on self-sufficiency and protecting this family from potential catastrophic events. Now, there’s not a whole lot we can do to prevent them from happening, whether they’re naturally occurring, like a solar flare, or man-made, like a nuclear war. But we can take steps as our financial resources allow to be ready for worst-case scenarios.”
“Daddy, isn’t there a point where somebody might go a little overboard in prepping?” asked Cooper before adding, “We all watched that show Doomsday Preppers. Some of them folks were coo-coo for cocoa puffs, right?”
The group laughed and Major smiled to himself as he recalled some of the more elaborate preps portrayed on that show.
“I can’t disagree with that, Coop,” replied Major. “One good thing that came out of that series, however, is it raised awareness for the concept of prepping. You just had to keep in mind that they were trying to make good television, which is why they portrayed some of the preppers as whack-a-doos.”
Riley started laughing and tried to contain himself. “Yeah, some of it was useful, but I’ll be dogged if I’m gonna wipe my butt with some danged garden sprayer like that one woman suggested.”
“Yeah, I could see it now,” started Cooper as he began to laugh hysterically. “You’d be too uncoordinated to spray the nozzle in the right place, and then you’d holler for Momma. Momma! Would you please come hose down m
y butt!”
The table burst into laughter at the vision of Riley wandering around behind the barn with his jeans around his ankles, trying to hose down his backside with a garden sprayer.
After the hilarity died down, Major received a text. He read it and then held up the phone and announced, “That’s a text from Preacher. Our delivery has arrived. Let’s go see.”
*****
After they hurriedly helped Miss Lucy finish up in the kitchen, the group descended into the cool fall air and marveled at the sight before them. Preacher was on a Polaris and was leading a caravan that consisted of two flatbed trucks and a crane kicking up dust as they approached.
“Are you kiddin’ me?” mumbled Cooper without really expecting any type of rational answer.
“Daddy, you bought two of them?” asked Palmer.
“Come on,” Major responded as he led the Armstrong entourage to get a closer look at the steel boxes that rode on the back of the flatbeds. “Let me get them started, and then I’ll explain everything.
Major spent a few minutes speaking with Preacher and the installers from Rising S Company, an East Texas-based manufacturer of steel underground storm shelters, safe rooms, bunkers, and bomb shelters. Major had researched a number of companies and found Rising S to be trustworthy and skilled fabricators. He’d toured their plant southeast of Dallas about a year ago and earmarked funds from this year’s cattle sales for this purpose.
After a moment, the men got to work, and Major returned to his still wide-eyed family. “Let me answer Palmer’s question from earlier when she asked if it was possible to go overboard when prepping. The answer is yes, and I have no doubt some folks might look at this as overboard. But your momma and I see it differently. To us, prepping is like insurance. When we spend our family’s money on advanced preps like these underground bunkers, we’re basically insuring that there will be protection for our families in the event of a catastrophic event, from tornadoes to nuclear strikes.”
“Daddy, you said families,” interjected Riley.
“That’s right, son. Do you see Preacher and all of his men? They’re our family too. We provide them housing in locations throughout our ranch. Most of them have been with us for ten years or more. You’ve grown up with their kids, and their mothers have become friends of your mother’s. When a major threat forces us into the shelter, we need to make room for them as well. Not only because it’s the right thing to do, but because we’ll need them to rebuild what’s left and, more importantly, defend our homes against those who might want to harm us.”
“Whoa, Daddy,” said Cooper. “You think it could come to that? Gun battles with rustlers and such?”
“It’s possible, Coop, and if it’s possible, I intend to prep for it.”
Lucy had been silent for most of the conversation until now. “Come here, kids,” she started as she gestured for her three youngest children to gather next to her. She wrapped her arms around them and whispered, “Your daddy and I love you more than life. We’ll be dogged if some dictator or a bunch of marauders will take one precious second away from us being together. We’d rather do without than lose any one of you to the threats we face. Do you understand?”
Everyone nodded and hugged their mother. For years, Major and Lucy had instilled the concept of self-reliance into their family. Now, as the children had grown into young adults, it was time to get them more involved in the Armstrongs’ preparedness activities. They were mature enough to understand and respect the threats all Americans faced.
Cooper replied, “We do, Momma. The threats are real. Why not be ready, just in case? Right?”
“Right,” responded Lucy.
Chapter 29
November 10
Midland-Odessa, Texas
While Major and the guys continued work on their underground bunker, Lucy and Palmer made the one-hour trek into Midland-Odessa to run some errands, which included taking advantage of the Emergency Preparation Supplies Sales Tax Holiday, which had been expanded to twice a year in Texas.
The Texas comptroller first instituted this opportunity for Texans to purchase emergency preparation supplies nearly ten years ago. Without quantity limits, the waiver of sales tax collection encouraged the public to purchase everything from generators to nonelectric can openers.
Once restricted to a particular weekend in April, the state comptroller added a second weekend in November following hurricane season. After Hurricane Harvey devastated the Texas Gulf Coast in 2017, then-Governor Abbott suggested the additional weekend be added to encourage Texans to prepare for disasters while the devastation was still fresh on their minds.
The program worked and was considered a huge success. Texas had a long history of encouraging its citizens to be ready for major storm events like hurricanes and tornadoes. In addition to protecting human lives, prepping reduced the burden on first responders, who could then focus their attention on the elderly and children, who were not capable of taking care of themselves in these cases. As one preparedness author once wrote, It’s the responsible thing to do.
“Okay, Momma, what’s our first stop?” asked Palmer as they approached Midland from the north on State Highway 349.
“Now that Daddy has his nuclear fallout shelter he’s been swoonin’ over since yesterday mornin’, he wants us to stock it with supplies. We’re gonna buy backups to a lot of things we already have and secure them in the bunker.”
“Three is two, two is one, and one is none, right, Momma?” asked Palmer.
“Wow, you remember that?” her mother replied with a question.
“Yeah, I used to hear that so often when I was little that I thought it was a nursery rhyme. But it makes sense. If you only have one generator, and it breaks, then you have none. If something happens like Daddy was talking about yesterday, it’s not like we can run down to Tractor Supply and pick up another generator. Which means having one is like having none.”
Lucy laughed at her daughter’s recollection of the prepper rule of threes. “I’m proud to have instilled something in that brain of yours.”
“Momma, you’ve taught me more than you realize,” added Palmer. “I just don’t let on so your head doesn’t swell up.”
“Zip it, missy,” said Lucy with a chuckle as she wheeled her Ford Expedition into KW Arms. “Here’s our first stop.”
“Of course, boy toys,” quipped Palmer. “Why do they need so many guns?”
“Actually, there’s a special order for your daddy, but I’ve also picked out a couple of handguns for us.”
“Are we finally gettin’ those matching Tiffany Blue ones?” asked Palmer with a laugh.
“No foo-foo, but we are going to pick up two weapons that are perfect for concealed carry. I have my concealed-carry permit, and your daddy wants you kids to get them as well.”
“But I thought Texas is an open-carry state. We don’t need the concealed-carry permit, do we?”
“Yes, but this is for when you travel as well,” replied Lucy. “Texas, like many states, has entered into concealed-carry reciprocity. Most of the states you guys travel to have agreements with Texas.”
They pulled into the parking lot, which was fairly busy for a Thursday morning. They walked in together and immediately realized they were the only women in KW Arms that morning except for the cashier. Lucy searched the store for Kirk Warwick, the owner and a longtime friend of the family who’d supported his store since it opened in 2010. Over the years, they’d become one of the best firearms dealers in West Texas.
As Lucy craned her neck to locate Warwick, he walked up behind her and announced himself. “Good morning, Miss Lucy.”
This startled Lucy somewhat, who jumped a little.
“Oh, I’m sorry,” Warwick apologized profusely as he stuck his hand out to greet Palmer. “Probably shouldn’t sneak up on folks in a gun shop. You must be Palmer. I’m Kirk, the store owner.”
“Nice to meet you, Kirk. Momma’s just real excited to pick up her new toys.”
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Warwick chuckled as he gave Lucy a hug. “Well, y’all will be real pleased with what we have for you. Follow me into the presentation room and I’ll retrieve your order. We don’t want to make a big deal of what you’ve bought in front of these other folks.”
“Okay,” replied Lucy. She understood Warwick’s suggestion of privacy. He always implored his customers to keep their weapons purchases under wraps. Your arsenal, he always said, was not something to brag about to your friends and neighbors.
After a few minutes, he returned with two pistol-sized cases and a box containing a rifle, which he set aside for the moment. He pulled the curtains closed and turned his attention to his customers.
“I believe you’re gonna love these weapons,” began Warwick as he popped open the hard plastic carrying case and presented matching Heckler & Koch VP9 Tactical handguns to Lucy. “As requested, Miss Lucy, we’ve equipped these with threaded barrels. The factory’s cold-hammer forging process will guarantee you eighty to ninety thousand rounds without a problem through these barrels.”
“How many?” asked Palmer as she cocked her head in disbelief. “Who shoots that much?”
“With training sessions included, you’d be surprised,” replied her mother.
Lucy picked up one of the weapons and felt the weight. She was pleased with its light feel and balance. Palmer followed her mother’s lead and expertly cleared the chamber. She and her brothers had been trained in the safe handling of firearms from the day they were old enough to pick up a BB gun. Major believed in teaching them to be comfortable around weapons and respect their capabilities.
“Also,” began Warwick, “I didn’t mention this in my voice mail to Major, but something else was approved for you guys.”
He reached onto the chair next to him and showed Lucy their new SilencerCo Omega 9K suppressor, the smallest, lightest, and quietest silencer available under five inches.
