by AJ Newman
“Where are you?”
“Shut up with questions like that. Listen to the rules, idiot!”
“Sorry.”
“This is Frisco Joe. Several wanna be dictators have their men and women fighting turf wars down here. I also saw an aircraft carrier and several smaller ships off the coast yesterday. Three helicopters flew over, but shagged ass away when several machine guns opened up on them. An Apache came back and took out the machine guns. Nothing else new.”
Granny B keyed the microphone. “This is Granny B. I’m new to this. Anyone know who’s in charge of the country?”
There were several rounds of laughter, and then she heard, “Lady, duck and cover. No one’s in charge. Navy ships have been seen from time to time, but nothing else. Listen every morning at 7:00 am for updates and rules.”
All of the conversations stopped abruptly. Then a voice said, “Those people are paranoid. I’m located in Ashland, Oregon, and all is going smoothly here. We have banded together to form a group to protect the area and are on our way back to normal. Where are the rest of you located?”
Another voice said, “Hey Ashland Asshole! You’re still spouting lies and BS as usual. Ashland has been taken over by a mexican drug gang. You’re not fooling anyone.”
A dozen other voices chimed in, ridiculing the rosy picture of Ashland.
Granny B changed channels several times and then stopped when she heard. “ … it was a solar flare.”
“Hell! No! It was the Chicoms. They tried to wipe us out with the damned Covid back in 2020 and just tried to finish the job.”
“You idiots are wasting our time. No one knows what happened. Period! Case closed! The US Government has a broadcast every evening at …” Static noise filled the air and then a sharp whistle. “ … on your FM dial to listen to … “ More static. “is now our president.”
“Someone is intentionally blocking the transmission of the government’s program channel. They’re probably blocking the program,” Jackie said.
Rick said, “I’ve tried the entire FM range on my radio back at the ranch, and have only heard a few crackpot stations and looped messages from the last minutes before the lights went out.”
Tom asked, “Have you tried the radio lately?”
“No.”
Tom wondered what had happened to the country he’d loved so dearly. “Let’s try FM and AM radio again.”
Kate looked at Tom. “What can a destroyed government do for us?”
Tom nodded. “I was thinking the same thoughts. I want to know what happened, and I want to think the government has started to rebuild the country. However, there isn’t much the government can do to make life better for us in Oregon's hills and mountains. I don’t think a convoy will show up to pass out food and arrest the thugs, criminals, and new dictators.”
The others paused and reflected on Tom’s words. Kate moved closer to her husband. “I agree with Tom. We need to keep making our own lives better and maybe help others when possible. Let’s challenge ourselves to find ways to help others improve their lives without placing ours in harm’s way.”
Granny B applauded the comments. “We probably have it made compared to most folks in our country. We’ve been preparing for this disaster for over thirty years and haven’t missed a meal. The rub is staying safe and anonymous while helping others. We can’t take in every Tom, Dick, and Harry who comes along. Maybe we can spread our wisdom while planting supplies and weapons to enable others to fight and survive.”
Rick chuckled. “Kinda sorta like a guerilla insurrection?”
Tom nodded and looked at Granny B. “Granny, you could educate people while Rick and I work with the others to arm and feed the ones willing to fight.”
Granny B looked confused as her brow wrinkled. “Ya mean teach classes?”
“No! Give short bursts of training over the radio. Nothing long enough to allow anyone to get a fix on our location. Maybe we could find a way to make copies of survival skills and distribute them,” said Tom.
Kate rubbed her hands together as Tom spoke. Eager to talk, she said, “Let’s get back to the ranch and get the others’ input. I think we can come up with several things to make people’s lives better. Anyway … I hope we can.”
The Ranch
Tom asked Alice and June to prepare supper while his team cleaned up and rested from their trip. He asked everyone to hold their questions until after supper. Tom didn’t want to be explaining how Granny B killed several scumbags with poison while his friends were eating. He patiently waited until they cleared the table and the dishes had been washed before bringing up the Hogan gang.
Tom gave an overview and then asked his grandma to tell her story. At first, everyone had a grim look on their faces, which quickly turned into a smirk and then outright laughter. They laughed the loudest when Granny B told them the rustlers' leader crashed into one of his sons while both were doing the outhouse two-step and didn’t make it to the shitter in time.
A short while later, Tom brought up the idea of helping other people to his friends. The others had barely caught their breath from laughing too hard when Kate stood up. “We’ve all come to the realization that fighting and killing evil people is part of our new way of life. Try as we may, we can’t stop bad people from doing bad things. We can eliminate them when they run afoul of our team, but can’t make them better people. Perhaps we can help some people from going to the dark side by teaching them how to survive, find food, and grow food.”
Tom broke in before the group discussion began. “We plan to use shortwave radio to broadcast segments aimed at helping folks improve their lot in life. Each survival tip will have to be only a few minutes long to keep us from being found. Now, give me your thoughts.”
As expected, Tom heard a variety of ideas and wrote them in his logbook. “I’ll write up everything you bring to the discussion, and then we’ll divide the ideas into groups of like items.”
Granny B had edible and poisonous plants covered. Rick had weapons, Greta pushed for raising rabbits, and the others volunteered where they were needed. Tom decided he’d be the coordinator and keep everyone on target.
The initial plan was to have Granny B give the edible and nonedible plant training over the radio to provide the others with time to develop several training tips. The radio broadcast was named Granny B’s Survival Tips. The team had their assignments and worked on their own broadcasts in their spare time.
Everyone was excited about the upcoming broadcasts and helping people. However, Tom had to slow them down by reminding them they still had a full day’s work to do at the ranch and the new cave location. “Sorry, but you have to work on the survival tips in your spare time. We have to run the ranch and prepare for winter.”
“Tom’s right. Winter will be our first real test since the crap hit the fan. Not because we don’t have enough stored food, but can we build our supplies to make it to next year’s harvest? We need to be harvesting every grain, fruit, and vegetable we can find in the area to ensure we can survive lean times,” Bill preached.
Granny B jumped into the conversation. “Bill is right on target. Our thirty-plus years of prepping only gets us through the first year. What we do now, locks us into continuously improving our lot in life or places us in a spiral downward of barely living and despair.”
Tom took charge. “After morning chores are done, I want everyone but the guards back here to plan our next month, next year, and next five years. We have to stop muddling through and get on track to living and not just surviving.”
Tom and Kate were up early and took a tour of the ranch on horseback. Tom was keen to see if they were leaving too many trails back to the ranch from the pastures or other cabins. “Look! Bill and Jack have done a great job of pushing the cattle and horses around the area. There aren’t any clear trails heading to the ranch. He even ran them around the barn and what’s left of our home.”
Tom came back through the small orchard on the way back for the
meeting. Kate plucked an apple from a branch. “These are tart but sweet. Shouldn’t we be picking them?”
“June has had most of the ladies over here picking apples and pears. We also have hazelnuts and walnuts out the wazoo that need to be gathered. That apple is a Honeycrisp and my favorite of all apples.”
Kate grabbed another apple and fed it to her horse. “How do we find and store enough grain and hay to feed the cattle and horses over the winter?”
“We only stock enough reserve to feed the horses through a couple of snowstorms. The cattle will graze in the woods north of the ranch and are on their own. Some won’t make it.”
Tom ate another piece of jerky and headed back to the ranch.
*
Chapter 17
Southeast of Ashland, Oregon
The old farm truck followed Tom’s pickup when it turned off Emigrant Creek Road to the clearing under the power lines. Tom drove cautiously down the steep hillside in the path under the transmission lines, quickly becoming overgrown with small saplings. Driving without lights was always dangerous, but traveling downhill cross-country was challenging. Tom went over the little trees without much effort, even though he knew the tracks could be seen for a long time. The pickup made the hill's bottom and now only had a couple of fences and a shallow ditch to negotiate.
Rick’s wire cutters made short work of the two fences, and the pickup and Jerry’s farm truck quickly crossed the ditch. Jerry shifted the transmission down into granny low gear, and the truck ate the ditch up and spat it out. A few hours before, the men had removed the sideboards and tailgate to enable the large truck to become a car hauler. Tom’s goal was to find and snatch two older tractors his scouts had identified at the abandoned farm.
Tom stopped the pickup next to the old 1972 Ford 3000 diesel tractor and quickly checked it out with Jerry’s help. Tom knew a little about tractors, but Jerry had helped his boss rebuild and restore old tractors. Jerry cranked the engine over and gave Tom the thumbs up. “This one will do. I rebuilt the engine about three years ago for old man Martin. Tell Rick to load it up while we check out the Allis Chalmers.”
While Rick, Bill, and James loaded the Ford, Jerry and Tom inspected the Allis Chalmers 185 Tractor. “This baby is a 1972 Allis Chalmers 185 with a six-cylinder diesel. More horsepower means more plow heads, which means faster plowing,” Jerry said.
Tom thought the tractor looked brand new. “Was this one recently rebuilt?”
“Yes, I rebuilt it for my boss, and he sold it to old man Martin about five years ago. It’s a keeper. Let’s load it up.”
“We need to hurry. It’s about one o’clock, and we need to search the place for any other useable items. I want to be home before sunrise.”
The barn contained mechanics tools and attachments for the tractors. The attachments were heavy, so Jerry fired up the Ford, which had a bucket on the front. He used the hydraulic bucket to lift the plow, box blade, hay rake, and hay baler onto the farm truck. He loaded the bush hog onto Tom’s truck. The others checked the home and freestanding garage.
Tom smiled when he walked into the garage. There was a shortwave radio, microphones, and other assorted equipment on a desk in a corner. A bookcase was full of books on shortwave radios and different types of radios. Another shelf to the left of the bench had numerous books on drones, but Tom didn’t see any drones in the garage. Tom asked the others to help him load the radio gear and books into his truck. Tom didn’t know much about shortwave setups, but knew the fancy microphones would impress Granny.
Tom noticed a small cargo trailer on the far side of the garage and opened the side door. He flicked his flashlight on and was confronted by a wall of shelves and brackets holding half a dozen large drones. There was a small desk in front of the trailer with documents and brochures. The brochures had the company name Rogue State Aero. They stated – Your Premier Drone Surveillance, Inspection, and Surveying Partner in business.
All of the large drones had cameras and something that looked like a GPS unit attached to their bottoms. Each drone had a control unit stored below, along with a bin for spare parts and attachments. Tom found the on switch of the largest drone and turned on the power. The drone lit up with several different colored lights but just sat in its cradle. Tom picked up the drone’s control unit and flipped the on switch. The drone buzzed, but nothing happened. Tom picked it up and took it outside. He studied the controls and started the blades turning. He made the drone rise, and it stayed stationary at his eye level. Tom decreased the lift, and the drone landed by itself. He put the drone back in its cradle and hitched the trailer to the back of his pickup.
Tom said to himself, “The cargo trailer’s walls and floors are made out of aluminum. Damn, the EMP waves couldn’t penetrate the metal.”
Tom stripped the garage and home of all tools, books, and clothing. He piled them up at the bottom of the cargo trailer. The house was large, and it appeared the owners had just walked away from it without taking anything with them. Tom guessed they must have been on vacation when the shit hit the fan.
Both tractors and the attachments were loaded. Bill had just secured the last tie-down when Tom saw vehicle lights in the distance when the vehicle crossed over Highway 5 on Highway 66 heading their way. Tom knew he only had a few seconds to decide if they were fleeing or staying for a potential fight. “Open the barn doors. Hide the trucks and grab your weapons. Rick, grab our crossbows! We’re not running.”
The truck was traveling at a slow speed as it stopped several times. The driver shined a searchlight onto the properties along Highway 66. This gave Tom plenty of time to have the trucks parked in the garage and position his men. He sent Jerry, Bill, and James to seek cover among the farm equipment on either side of the gravel road from Highway 66 past the farmhouse to the barn. Tom climbed to the top of the barn and sent Rick to the top of the farmhouse. This created a kill zone about one hundred feet long by twenty-five feet wide.
Tom watched the vehicle through the night vision scope. It stopped at the farm next to them, and he only saw the driver and two men in the back of the truck. Tom thought, That ’73 Dodge 4X4 would be a great addition to the ranch’s fleet. I have a chance to kill three of Carlos’s men and steal their truck.
“Ambush the bastards when they’re trapped between us! Rick and I’ll pick them off with the crossbows. James, pass this on to the others!” Tom yelled down to James.
James passed the orders to the others just as the truck stopped in front of the farmhouse. The searchlight swept the area for a few minutes, and the truck started to drive away. Tom wanted that truck. He pulled out his penlight and shined it at the truck, which continued driving away for several feet while one of the men beat on the top of the cab. When Tom knew the men had seen the flashlight, he threw it as far down the gravel road as he could. The driver aimed the searchlight squarely at the barn while the truck turned around. Tom could see both men in the back jump from the truck with rifles ready.
Tom waited until he thought Rick had a shot at the driver and let a bolt fly at the man furthest from him. The man stood still for a few seconds in disbelief that he was already dead. He fell to the ground just as the second bolt hit the closest man in the arm. The unlucky bastard raised his hand to swat an insect when the bolt pierced his hand and then the front of his skull. He fell dead without firing a shot.
Rick had to wait a second until he had a clean shot at the driver. He knew the bolt would probably pierce the sheet metal from close range but would be stopped before going on through to kill the driver. The truck lurched forward when the first man fell, and Rick took his shot. The bolt tore through the man’s jacket and ribs before lodging in his spine below his heart. He drowned in his own blood.
Bill ran to the truck, ready to finish off the driver but found him already dead. Bill opened the door and dragged the man from the vehicle. Soon, Tom and Rick joined the others. Tom ordered the others to load the dead men into the back of the pickup. “Rick, gather thei
r weapons. They have some nice ARs and semi-auto pistols. We’ll dump the bodies on the way home.”
The weighted bodies sunk to the bottom of Emigrant Lake and weren’t found until a dog found a femur twenty years later. Carlos had an ongoing defection of volunteers who’d found gang life wasn’t cracked up to be what they’d romanticized. The men were never missed as much as a good four-wheel drive.
The Clark Ranch
Kate and Jackie were surprised when three trucks drove up the driveway, just as the light of the sun shone above the trees. The old Dodge had been painted olive drab with many leaves of all colors painted on top to deliver a kind of redneck camouflage. It was between the vehicles they expected to see and was driven by James.
Kate hugged Tom and pointed at the truck. “Did you find a stray truck along with the two tractors?”
“Yes! Three bad men donated it to us. They didn’t need it where we sent them.”
Kate snickered. “I guess the tires would have melted, anyway.”
Jackie shook her head. “Huh?”
“Hell! Sister! We sent them to Hell!”
Jackie planted a big kiss on Rick and nodded at the tractors. “Do they run?”
“Yes. We fired them up for a few seconds. Believe it or not, Jerry rebuilt both of them a few years back. That’s why he took us to them for our first scavenger hunt,” Rick said.
Tom motioned for the ladies to follow him to the cargo trailer and opened the door. A box of feminine hygiene supplies was stacked on top of a pile of women’s coats and other clothing.
Kate smiled, “Jackie, you and Granny B certainly raised Tom to be a good and thoughtful man.”
Jackie rubbed Tom’s head. “Be careful. He gets a big head and gets hard to reason with.”
“Not my Tommy Boy.”
