Prepper's Crucible (Omnibus, Volumes 1-3): A Post Apocalyptic Tale (Preppers Crucible)

by Bobby Andrews

  Ed was in charge of the gardens, greenhouses, and the stockpile of heirloom seeds needed to ensure continuity of a supply of viable seeds. They decided to use no hybrids, as they would not guarantee a steady supply of viable seeds for the following year’s gardens. He also oversaw the stockpiling of garden soil, fertilizer, and anything else needed to ensure a constant food supply. Lastly, he was in charge of buying four cows, a bull, rabbits, chickens, and all the feed they would need for two years.

  Mary assumed the mantle of heading up food purchases. They decided that they needed to be self-sufficient, presuming no source of outside food at all, for two years. Mary compiled lists of what sort and how much food to stockpile. They set up a dated inventory for the food so that the oldest food would be the most accessible and hence used first. When the group factored in the farm animals, hunting, crops, and gardens, they concluded they could last indefinitely presuming nothing unforeseen occurred.

  Bud was to oversee all construction, maintenance, improvements, and installation of all electronic systems not related to security. This included solar panels, generators, wind turbine systems, and additional buildings the group would need. Working with Don, he was to oversee the construction of a bunkhouse that would feature interlocking fields of fire with both the barn and the main house. The main house was remodeled so that it contained four bedrooms, one on each corner of the house, with a great room in the center. The operations center would be at the back of the great room. Later they would reinforce the walls and create shooting ports around the windows. They considered building tunnels between the buildings, but quickly decided that it was going to require more time and money than they had at that juncture.

  Kate took charge of all budget and finance matters, as well as arranging an overall plan regarding where the various items would be stored and how they would conduct routine inventories. This became more important as time went on, as Don and Kate would provide fifty percent of all funding, and the other two couples the other fifty. In order to keep purchases on the time line they established, loans were made, as needed, by Don and Kate.

  When the lights went out, several items still needed to checked off the many lists they made.

  CHAPTER SIX

  Bud awoke to the sound of gunfire in the distance. He was startled awake, suddenly alert. Two more shots rang out, then silence. They did not sound as though they came from the neighborhood, but they did not seem to be far away. He pulled a living room curtain aside and peeked out the window. Not a soul was visible and the street was quiet. The sun was already up and Bud cursed to himself. They should have left by now.

  “Bud?”

  “I’m in the living room.”

  She looked around the bedroom doorframe and asked, “was that gunfire?”

  “Most definitely.”

  “When are we leaving?”

  ‘‘Right now. Go get dressed.”

  Bud was fully dressed from the night before except for his boots. He walked to the pile of supplies they had stacked by the back patio door the night before and strapped on his holster, placing two additional magazines in the magazine holders on both holsters. He went to the bathroom, did his business, washed up, brushed his hair and teeth, and put on his work boots.

  “I’m going to load the ATV.”

  “I’ll be ready in two minutes.”

  Bud was placing the last of the supplies in the ATV when Mary emerged from the house. He kissed her and gave her a hug, then placed his AR between the seats so the barrel rested on the passenger side floor, handed Mary her pistol and holster, and tied down the equipment in the back seat.

  “Okay, a few rules before we leave.”

  “Okay.”

  “You know the route to Ed’s?”

  “Of course.”

  “If, for any reason we have to detour, you have to find us the best way to get back on the route and you have to do it on the fly.” Ed handed her the city map. “The red marks on the map are the areas where we are most likely to encounter trouble, so try to figure out how we can get around them before we reach them.”

  “Got it.”

  “The pistol stays in your holster unless we see trouble. Your AR stays next to mine on the passenger side well, barrel down, just like mine. We don’t pull those unless we are being attacked.” She nodded agreement.

  “Also, we don’t stop for any reason. And, I do mean any reason. We might see some people who need help or in some kind of trouble, but we have to keep going. We need to be out of the city before sundown or we will be the people that need saving, so no argument about that while we are driving. Agreed?”

  ”Yes,” she said quietly, but Bud could tell it really bothered her.

  “I’m sorry, honey. You know we would help anybody under normal circumstances, but we really can’t now.”

  “I already said yes.”

  “Thanks.” He kissed her again and said, “let’s go.”

  Bud opened the back gate, started the ATV, and pulled out into the alley. He made a left turn, pressed the throttle, and turned right on 44th street. The route was, for the most part, through residential areas, but this was the first of several major streets they would have to traverse to get to Ed’s house.

  Vehicles were everywhere, a few with their doors left open. They could see several fires had started in the area and passed through a thick cloud of smoke from a burning Taco Bell. There were no fire trucks or sirens, so Bud concluded the EMP had disabled the fire engines. He had to dodge between stalled vehicles for two blocks, then went over the curb and proceeded down the sidewalk for two more before turning back into the neighborhood.

  “That was easy.”

  “We’re not there yet,” Mary replied with a small frown.

  As they drove down the quiet neighborhood street, several people stared at them from porches and driveways. Several more clustered in a front yard, and one man moved to the street with a hand raised as if to ask them to stop. They did not slow or acknowledge the wave. After three more blocks, they again turned right on 44th Street and encountered more clusters of dead cars. They were about to head back to the side streets when Mary spotted a stalled police car in the intersection ahead, with two cops behind the car in what appeared to be a roadblock.

  “Right turn!” Mary yelled over the sound of the engine. Bud gunned it and disappeared before the cops could react. They drove through a more affluent neighborhood, with larger houses and fancy cars for four blocks.

  “Left turn!” They turned on to a wider street with no obstructions. Palm trees lined both sides of the road and there were no cars parked in the street.

  “How far on this road?”

  “Around twelve blocks.” Bud slammed his foot on the throttle and quickly made it to the next turn.

  “Left again. Two blocks. “

  “Got it.” He slowed the ATV, negotiated the turn, and came back up to speed.” Bud knew they were approaching the irrigation canal that passed directly by the back of Ed’s house. “How far to the canal?”

  “Almost there. Right in three blocks.”

  They emerged from the residential area and onto the banks of the canal, which they thought would be safe as nobody travelled along it. The banks were around twenty feet wide and were maintained by the city. Bud mashed the throttle and they hurtled down the canal bank at top speed. Four miles later, they turned into Ed’s unfenced back yard, where they saw Ed and Ann already sitting in their ATV. Bud shut down his vehicle.

  “What kept you, brother?” Ed asked. Ann and Mary ran to each other and hugged for a moment. Ed got out of his vehicle, shook hands with Bud, then gave him a quick hug.

  “God, I am so relieved you are here,” Ann said, looking at both of them. “We were wondering if you would make it at all.”

  “I had some trouble getting home,” Ed explained. “But if we are leaving now, I can explain later.”

  “What do you think?” Bud asked. “We would be getting a later start than we planned. I don’t know i
f we can reach the trailhead by dark.”

  “How bad is it out there?” Ed asked.

  “The only encounter we had was with a police road block we went around. No shots were fired,” Bud answered. “But, Mary did get mugged yesterday.”

  Ann gasped. “My God! What happened?”

  “It was nothing. A kid stole a bike I found and threw me down. No big deal,” she shrugged.

  “Are you hurt?” Ed asked. She pointed to the already receding bruise on her face and replied, “no, I’m fine.”

  “So what is the consensus? Do we wait until morning, or go now?” Bud asked.

  “Let’s go,” Ed said. “We have enough time to clear town and we just have to revise the rally points before we leave. It’s not going to get any better here in the city.” Everyone agreed. “Let’s sit on the patio with the maps, make the revisions, and go. Anybody needs to use the bathroom, use it now.” The girls both left while they revised the rally points. Ed laid the maps on the table and traced a finger over the Phoenix city map that lay next to a forest service map.

  “We might be able to reach the trail head with some luck. But, let’s not count on that. So, the first rally point will be twenty miles away, where the canal meets the power line easement. The second will be here, ten miles up the easement.” His finger touched each map once.

  “Works for me. You want to fix the rest now, or wait until we get to the second rally point?”

  “Let’s wait until we take the first break at the entrance to the easement.”

  “Fine by me.”

  “Here’s the walkie talkie,” Bud said, handing it to Ed. “It’s set on channel six, just like always. I say we keep the same radio discipline we agreed on before and keep the chatter to a minimum.”

  “Agreed.”

  “Another thing: your rig looks overloaded and mine has a bit of room. Why don’t we redistribute the weight when we get to the easement? We will be starting uphill and the extra weight could make it hard to handle, or damage the ATV.”

  “I thought the same thing when I saw the load last night. I was thinking I should take the lead until then so if anything falls off the buggy, you will see it and recover it.”

  “Good idea,” Bud replied.

  “Food and water?” Ed asked.

  “Good for three days.”

  “Same here.”

  “So, are we missing anything?” Bud asked.

  “What about spacing? Forty feet?”

  “Close enough to support each other, but far enough away so we can’t be taken out together. That works. Since you are in the lead and will be able to see ahead, you set the pace and we will just follow.”

  “Let’s get out four bottles of water each so we don’t have to stop in town.”

  The men put the water bottles in the front seats, got binoculars out of the assault packs, and got two extra magazines for each AR. The women emerged from the house and Mary asked, “are we ready?”

  “Yes,” both men replied in unison. They got into the ATVs and started the engines. With Ed in the lead, they pulled out of his yard and back onto the banks of the canal. Bud noticed immediately that the number of fires seemed to have increased and grown in size. A black pall hung over several sections of the city. Ed quickly increased speed to around thirty miles an hour and, for the first twenty minutes, they saw no one. As Ed rounded a bend in the canal, he came to a sudden stop. Bud maintained his distance until Ed motioned him forward. Ahead was a group of four men in their twenties, each carrying a fishing rod and sidearm. They all wore jeans and hoodies.

  “Come on over,” the tallest one yelled. Ed looked at Bud.

  “Crawl up on me when I get twenty yards from them. I might need some cover fire, but stay forty yards out and use the ARs.”

  “Got your back, brother.” As Ed moved closer, Bud followed at a slower pace, stopping short of where Ed would stop.

  “Pull up the ARs, but keep them out of sight across our laps.” Bud said to Mary. She slowly pulled them out and set them across their legs.

  “You need to pay a toll,” the man yelled, putting a hand over his holster. The other three all looked at him uncertainly.

  Ed pulled his Glock slowly out of the holster and stood up in his ATV, while Bud and Mary got out of their ATV and leveled the ARs at the group. Ed nodded at Ann, who also emerged with the AR leveled at the group over the windshield of the ATV.

  “We won’t be paying any tolls today,” Ed said. “Move aside or you die. And, get your hand off the holster now,” he added, bringing his Glock up and leveling it at the group’s leader.

  The men looked at one another with confusion. Apparently, they thought nobody would challenge their authority. The fact they had three semi-automatic weapons leveled at them probably helped them make up their minds to stand down.

  “Okay, okay,” the apparent leader replied. “How about you just give us some food and water and we’re all good here?”

  “The only thing you’re getting from us is an early grave,” Ed replied. He could tell they had already capitulated; he could see the fear in their eyes. “Here’s how it’s going to work. We are getting back in our vehicles. We are going to move around to your left with our guns on you. Anyone moves, goes for a gun, or even sneezes, you all die. I don’t care if only one of you does something, you will all die. Now move aside and decide if you want to live or die.”

  With that, he changed seats with Ann, after taking the AR and holstering his pistol. Ed motioned Bud forward. Bud also rode shotgun, with the AR leveled at the group. They both moved slowly past the young men with the ARs moving horizontally to stay aimed at the group as they passed. They turned to face backward as they moved away from the group. Ann then came back up to cruising speed, with Mary trailing, for another three miles before they stopped and switched drivers. Bud also took over the driver’s seat again.

  “Anybody need to take a break?” Ed asked.

  “I’m a bit shaky,” Mary said. “Let’s just take a moment to calm down before we start again.” She looked a bit pale and her hands were trembling. The two couples sat in the ATVs, side by side, and took a few deep breaths. The fact was they were rattled, to some degree, by what had happened. While they were all proficient with firearms, Ed more than the others, none had actually aimed a weapon at another person in what could be a life and death situation. The realization it could have turned out much differently was not something easy to process.

  “That was all screwed up,” Ann said, shaking her head.

  “I don’t know if I could have fired on them,” Mary replied. “It’s one thing on a gun range with targets. But, shooting at another human being, I just don’t know.” She shook her head with a sad expression. “What in hell were they doing there?” she added.

  “Trying to fish in a canal that has no fish,” Bud said. “Not the sharpest tacks in the box. There’s been no fish in the canals for decades.”

  Ed barked a short laugh. “Okay, let’s get out and stretch and get moving again. If that was a preview of what the city is going to be like, I want to get the hell out of here before it gets worse. The power has only been out for a day and already we got scum like that to contend with.”

  They got out of the ATVs, spent a few minutes enjoying being on their feet, then headed out, with Bud again maintaining a forty-foot interval between them.

  The remainder of the trip was uneventful as they passed a few more groups of people, some of which waved a greeting. None of the groups were armed, and none attempted to stop them. They maintained a steady thirty miles an hour pace, and two hours later stopped at the power line easement for a break. Ed looked up the slope and noted that it looked recently mowed. Better still, there were no obvious major obstacles to a steady climb up the hill, at least not for the first few miles. They were well out of city limits; aside from a few homes that lay in the distance, it seemed they were alone.

  Bud passed fresh water bottles to everyone and they all turned to look at the city. T
he fires appeared completely out of control and seemed to cover around ten percent of the land mass.

  “I guess there’s nobody to put out the fires,” Mary speculated.

  “I’m having a problem wrapping my brain around the fact that everything has changed so quickly,” Ann said. “I was going to visit my mom next week. Now, I don’t know if I will ever see her again.”

  “We’re all in the same boat,” Bud replied. “We all have parents and relatives living in other places and the fact is there is nothing we can do to help them. It’s just really hard to accept.”

  As they stared at the city, a realization kicked them in the figurative gut. They all understood intellectually that everything had changed, and life as they knew it was over. There would be no more visiting relatives for the holidays, as in the past. No more trips to the grocery stores or spending Saturday shopping. The rhythm of daily life had changed, possibly forever. Access to instant answers and problem-solving solutions on the Internet was over, as were weekly phone calls to parents. As they had seen, fires would go unchecked and law enforcement would likely cease to exist. The lack of transportation would cripple any police response, presuming officers continued to report for duty, rather than stay home and try to feed and protect their families. Even a simple cold could become a life-threatening illness. The list was too long to absorb.

  “This scares the crap out of me,” Ann said.

  “Me too,” Mary replied.

  “There’s no question that things are going to change,” Bud said. “The bright side is, at least we got ready for it and have a good chance of making it until things get back to normal.”