The Shepherd: Society Lost: Volume One (A Post-Apocalyptic Dystopian Thriller)

by Steven Bird

  “Due to our very stringent gun laws, the citizens of Sweden did not have access to firearms like here in the United States. That meant mounting a serious opposition without any sort of outside help simply was not as feasible.

  “Sadly,” he continued. “Moving to the U.S. did not allow me to escape what was happening back home. When the global financial collapse began, followed by the attacks and the infighting on U.S. soil, I felt like I was living it all over again.

  “Shortly before the final stages of the collapse, myself and a few other like-minded individuals started a mutual-assistance group in the event we felt things started to reach the point of no return.

  “When it was clear that the end-game was upon us and was not going to be stopped, we bugged out together as a group and eventually joined up with Denny. He and several other former National Guardsmen who joined our group, several of whom lost their lives today, were able to help us out in regards to supplies. They had managed to get their hands on a few helpful items on their way out the door.

  “Since then, we have been trying to do whatever we could, to help whomever we could. What purpose is there in living if you are not making a difference?”

  “I agree with you completely,” Jessie replied.

  “Amen to that!” added Spence. “I’ve made it through all this by hiding out, but no more.”

  Looking back to Jӧrgen, Jessie asked, “So, what were you observing? Who was that back there?”

  “So you know how the NWO leaders used terrorist cells to do some of their dirty work?”

  “Yes, we do.”

  “After the organized fighting stopped, the Jihadist movement didn’t. Just prior to the collapse, there were numerous terrorist training camps located along the southern side of the U.S./Mexican border, poised and ready to strike. When it all started going down, the cells activated and moved easily into the U.S. through the mostly undefended and porous border. Many were killed in the fighting that ensued—killed by citizens standing their ground as well as the NWO-elite-controlled forces that set out to stop the jihadists once they had begun to abandon their alliances and turn on them. The ones who remained were left with a chaotic situation in which they could thrive.”

  “Just as ISIS had no trouble recruiting before, in the days leading up to the collapse, the groups that are now here in the U.S. are not having trouble, either. Some of those who join are die-hard radicals who truly believe in the cause; others are self-radicalized individuals who relish in the opportunity to rape, murder, and be a part of something that exerts power and superiority over others. Either way, the end result is the same.”

  Coughing from the dust being kicked up by the trucks, Jӧrgen cleared his throat and continued, “The area you were circling is a point of interest for us because a jihadist group has taken over the previously abandoned Navajo boarding school located in Counselor, New Mexico. They have kidnapped at least fourteen young girls that we know of, to use as both sex slaves and as young brides for the jihadists themselves. The girls that resist are often raped, tortured, stoned, and killed, becoming an example to the others if they do not conform to the new way of life being forced upon them. It is the same old song and dance that we have seen in the Middle East for ages, only now, it is here.”

  “Are these guys in particular hardcore radical jihadists, or are they self-radicalized individuals?” Jessie asked.

  “A mixture of both, from what we can tell,” replied Jӧrgen. “We believe their leader to be Imad al-Din Hashemi. He is the real deal from what we know. Probably a survivor from the wave that came across the southern border during the onset of the attacks. Many of his followers, however, are homegrown.”

  After a moment of silence to take it all in, Jessie and Spence shared a look of mutual understanding as Jessie turned to Jӧrgen and said, “We’d be glad to help out in any way we can. Your guys died saving us. It’s the least we can do. Not to mention the fact that there is no way either of us could just walk away knowing what’s happening to those girls.”

  With a look of appreciation, Jӧrgen said, “Considering our losses today, we can use all the help we can get. What you have seen is all that is left. Marissa here is a registered nurse by trade and was a nurse in the Guard as well. She has been acting as our field medic and camp doc.”

  “Pleased to meet you,” Marissa said with a nod.

  “Likewise, ma’am,” Jessie and Spence both replied.

  “Denny and Curtis are former active-duty Army turned National Guard infantrymen,” Jӧrgen continued. “They have been the trainers for the rest of us. Frank, the gentlemen driving the flatbed, was an over-the-road trucker with lots of firearms experience as a hunter and outdoor enthusiast. Tommy is the younger fellow driving the Jeep out in front of the flatbed. He is young at only nineteen years old, but he has got a lot of fight in him. He and others like him are the future of this country and this world, if you ask me. The man riding shotgun for him is Leland. Leland was a retail store manager turned preparedness minded survivalist. He, like myself, did not have any sort of fighting experience before this all happened, but we have all gotten our hands dirty several times over at this point. What about you two? What are your backgrounds?”

  “Spence here, is a doctor,” Jessie said, nudging Spence in the side.

  “A Doctor of Veterinary Medicine,” Spence clarified.

  Looking at Spence, Jessie said, “You yourself said that’s the best kind of doctor. Remember? You can perform your procedures in a barn without all of that fancy stuff.”

  Blushing slightly, Spence looked to Jӧrgen and Marissa and said, “I would be happy to assist Marissa in any way I can.”

  “And you?” Jӧrgen asked, looking at Jessie.

  “Most recently, I was a simple shepherd and homesteader. I was in law enforcement prior to all that, though.”

  “That is a good skillset to have,” Jӧrgen said. “Your law enforcement experience will come in handy now, and your animal husbandry skills will surely come in handy when the world starts to recover.”

  Changing the subject, Jӧrgen said, “We will be at our next campsite soon. We will practice light discipline tonight and forgo the bulk of the setup until morning. Other than those on watch, everyone will just sleep in, around, or under one of the vehicles. When we get a chance to settle in, I will talk to Denny and the others and we will get you both on board with our plans, if you are willing. For tonight, though, just get some sleep and we will work on the details tomorrow.”

  “Are you in charge of the group?” Spence asked Jӧrgen.

  “No. No one is in charge. We all have a role to fill and we each understand that role. I was an emergency services manager, so I am good at staying on top of all the details amidst chaos and disorder, of which there is no shortage here.”

  “Roger that,” replied Spence. He then turned to Marissa and said, “It’s your show, ma’am, I’m at your assistance.”

  “Like Jӧrgen said, it’s no one’s show, sir,” she replied. “We’re all in it together here.”

  “Of course,” he replied with a smile.

  Chapter Thirty-Five

  Early the next morning as the first rays of the day’s sunlight began to warm the camp, Jessie awoke to the feeling of something crawling on his forehead. Smacking at it, still half asleep, Jessie looked at his hand to realize it was oil dripping down onto his head from the undercarriage of the flatbed truck, under which he had been sleeping.

  Great, he thought as he attempted to wipe it off with his sleeve. Crawling out from underneath the truck, Jessie saw Denny sitting atop a nearby hill, glassing the area off in the distance with a pair of binoculars. Walking up the hill to Denny, Jessie said, “Good morning.”

  Without deviating from his scan of the terrain below and in the distance, Denny replied, “Any day you wake up starts out as a good day. It’s up to you to screw it up from there.”

  With a chuckle, Jessie replied, “Yes, sir. That’s a fact. I can relieve you, if you want to cat
ch a nap.”

  “Don’t sweat it. I'm all right,” Denny replied as he lowered the binoculars, hanging them from the lanyard around his neck. “You’ve got a busy day ahead of you, anyway.”

  “I do?” queried Jessie.

  “Yeah, well, if you’re gonna join us at the boarding school that is.”

  “Of course, but what’s the plan?”

  “First off, we’ve got to get you two trained up. I’m sure you can handle a weapon just fine, especially with your background. We just want to make sure everyone is on the same page here. Being half prior-service and half civilian-trained, we’ve sort of developed our own style over time. We’ve got some rather unique hand signals and whatnot that you’ll need to be well versed on before making any sort of a move on the boarding school, which they’ve turned into quite the compound, by the way.”

  “When do we start?” Jessie asked.

  “Leland is our mess crank of the day. We rotate that duty to everyone. If you want to see if he needs any help, give him a hand and get yourself something to eat. After breakfast, we’ll all get together and go over everything.” Turning to look at Jessie with a facial expression that indicated his seriousness, Denny said, “We’re gonna have to hit them soon, whether we’re ready or not. From what we’ve seen, we can’t leave those girls down there any longer. If we wait until we’re ready, it might be too late for many of them. That’s just not acceptable.”

  “What do you know of the girls? Do any of them have a family?”

  “Not that we know of. We’ll have to debrief them once they’ve had time to decompress, to try to find out if there is somewhere we can try to take them. I can’t imagine the families that lost the girls fared very well during the struggle, though.”

  “So what’s your plan, then?” Jessie asked. “You know, afterward.”

  “Don’t have one,” Denny bluntly stated. “Hell, we may all be killed and there won’t be an afterward. We’ve learned to take things one step at a time. Planning is critical, but around here, planning too far into the future just sets a benchmark for failure. We’ve come to learn to just roll with the punches and accept the gifts when they're given.”

  Nodding as if he understood, while not fully agreeing, Jessie said, “Well, I’ll leave you to your work. I’ll go see if Leland needs my help.”

  ~~~~

  After breakfast, the group gathered together and caught Jessie and Spence up to speed on their group’s standard operating procedures, as well as taking the time to get to know one another. Once they were on the same page, Jӧrgen spoke up and said, “I was speaking with Denny and Curtis earlier, and given the sudden change in our manpower, we feel the time to make a move on the compound is now. We lost some good friends yesterday. That is something that seems to happen all too often.We cannot afford to take any more hits. If we lose anyone else, we may not have adequate resources to get the job done. The weaker we are as a group, the more dangerous the situation will become for the girls if we do make a move. With Jessie and Spence onboard, we have to assume that we are at our peak for the foreseeable future.”

  Jӧrgen looked around the group, seeing that everyone was nodding in agreement and said, “Spence, we want you and Leland to stay back and be our support team.”

  Caught off guard by Jӧrgen’s statement, Spence held his protest to hear him out.

  “We have to assume there will be casualties or injuries. Marissa will be going along as our field medic. In the event we...” pausing to find the right words, Jӧrgen continued, saying, “In the event we do not have the luxury of her services after the fact, we will be well served having you ready to receive any of the wounded, as well as to provide any medical assistance to any of the girls that we may be lucky enough to free. You and Leland will stay with the flatbed several miles away from the boarding school, ready to assist with extraction or medical care as needed.”

  “Jessie, we need you to go along with the rest of us. It is going to take every person we have. Denny and Curtis are finalizing the plan, which we will go over prior to making our move. That gives us you, Frank, Tommy, Denny, Curtis, Marissa, and myself. By our estimates, they have the advantage in numbers at nearly two to one, but why let math get in the way, right?”

  Sharing an uneasy smile, understanding the full weight of the situation they were about to face, the group dispersed and spent the rest of the afternoon preparing their gear, each person taking the time to focus on the gravity of the situation they were about to face in their own way.

  As Spence and Marissa got to know one another and went through the group’s medical supplies, Jessie found shade under the rear of the flatbed, reached into his pocket, and removed his journal. Silently staring at the cover for a moment, Jessie flipped it open and began to write.

  It seems like both yesterday, and an eternity ago, that I was living a happy life on my family’s homestead. I had everything I wanted, yet it was all taken from me. In that darkest of hours, I had nearly lost all hope for humanity and for myself. Setting out to shed myself of the emotional pain and suffering I would have surely endured if I would have stayed, I have encountered the best and the worst humanity has to offer.

  The hope and spirit I’ve seen in people like Ash, Spence, and now Jӧrgen and his crew, and their steadfast determination to retain their dignity and humanity in the face of the ultimate tests of strength, has rekindled my hope for the world and for myself.

  I’m not sure where I am supposed to end up in life. Not a day goes by that I don’t long to be in heaven with my wife and children. Not a day goes by that I don’t want to break down into tears from the pain in my heart that I hope never goes away. I never want them to slip out of reach of my memory and that pain, no matter how emotionally debilitating, keeps them close to me inside.

  Still unsure why I have been spared, I no longer feel as if I am making my own way through the world. I feel as if I am being led through it, as if there is a destination that I am meant to find, although I know not what it is.

  Pausing to look up into the sky, Jessie saw a great eagle circling overhead. Momentarily losing his thoughts to the grace and majesty of the bird, Jessie smiled and then returned to his thoughts.

  If my journey is to end tonight, so be it. If it does, I just pray God reunites me with my wife and children in heaven. If it does not, if my journey is meant to take me to another place for some reason as yet unbeknownst to me, I will dutifully follow. I have countless debts to repay for the blessings that have been bestowed on me and intend on settling those debts no matter what the cost.

  Tucking his journal back into his jacket pocket, Jessie laid his head back on his pack and watched the eagle as it flew higher and higher, disappearing from his view into the rays of the sun.

  Chapter Thirty-Six

  As the moon replaced the sun in the sky, and as the cool desert breeze flowed through camp, everyone readied their gear and made their final equipment checks. With an M4 carbine and his trusty Colt on his side, Jessie slipped the last of his six thirty-round 5.56 magazines into his load-bearing vest and ensured that everything was snug and secure. With the body armor they had given him underneath, he felt overloaded and cumbersome, but he knew it was better to be over prepared than under prepared.

  “Are you all set?” Denny asked, walking up to Jessie.

  “As ready as ever,” Jessie replied.

  Looking around to the entire camp, Denny shouted, “Okay, folks, listen up. Everyone gather around. Curtis is about to go over the final plan.”

  Stepping up onto a portable storage container, Curtis said, “Here’s the plan: Jessie, you’re gonna go with Marissa in the Jeep. To our knowledge, they’ve never seen our Jeep, or Marissa for that matter. You two are going to create the initial diversion. You two will drive up Highway 550 toward the boarding school. We don’t imagine they’ll let your presence go unanswered. As soon as you see activity, and they get a good look at the two of you, get the heck out of there. Head west until you reach the abandoned
post office.

  “Upon reaching the post office, exit 550 onto the dirt road just behind the post office and follow it back to what used to be the local government building. Jӧrgen will be lying in wait on one of the rooftops, or a similarly advantageous position, and will begin to pick off your pursuers. Engage them there once Jӧrgen begins firing on them and keep them occupied. If you can take them out of the fight and join up with us, great. If not, hold them off there as long as you can to give us time to hit the remaining threats at the compound and attempt to extract the girls.

  “Denny, Frank, Tommy, and I will take advantage of the diversion to make our move. Denny, Tommy, and I will be lying in wait in the darkness. Frank will be positioned on one of the roofs at the old stockyard across the road from the boarding school compound. He’ll have the fifty cal—ˮ

  “You’ve got a fifty?” interrupted Spence.

  “Yeah, we’ve got a fifty,” Curtis replied, seemingly annoyed by the interruption.

  “So, like I was saying,” he continued. “Frank will be on top of one of the buildings at the stockyard, putting a world of hurt on any of the jihadis who show themselves at the compound.”

  “Will Frank have any sort of night vision?” asked Jessie.

  “No, he won’t. The fifty-cal has a damn fine scope on it, though.”

  “Will he be able to acquire his targets in the dark with a conventional scope at that distance? How is the lighting at the compound?” asked Jessie.