by Ron Foster
“Damn, you got me as for what to do about him but rest assured him or the metal or both will be back here in a couple days, if not sooner. Let’s get back to that silver deal you were talking about for a moment. What am I supposed to use to buy that with?” David said regarding his communities banker.
“We got plenty of gold; you know what trade goods are available, just cut a deal. Better yet, exchange some of those notes with that Central Banker and use what you get back. We need small coins, not gold coins or rings or the pricing gets too crazy around here. Do you see why you are going instead of me now?” Weatherman said smugly.
“Yea, I got it. I don’t like it but I guess I understand what I am supposed to be doing I just ain’t figured out how to get it done yet, though. I suppose most of it rests on getting that Central Banker to see it our way. How do you already know that River boat is willing to trade all that coinage?” David asked.
“Well, we are kind of trading on insider information, you might say, that goes back to Dixon and all those cows he ordered from Roland. It seems one of the owners of that boat, a fellow named Clem said he would pay silver for 15 of them and wants more livestock, fertilizer and some other sundries so Dixon told him about you and gave me a heads up. Problem is Captain Mertz got wind of the same thing and he is doing his own little end run to acquire silver as well as livestock. That was some of the news Gauge brought me last night.” Weatherman said conspiratorially.
“Yea, I sent him to talk to his friend over in Mertz’s crew but I forgot he was supposed to report back sometime today. Maybe I need to be leaving earlier than I thought to go find Dixon, huh?” David said ready to rush off on his mission.
“Well, it’s best to get this matter put to rest as quickly as we can but Mertz has no idea about what Dixon is up to or the where about of that River boat until they pull into the landing. Your mail rider said he got word they were running late and got hung up on a sandbar trying to make a bend in the river. You and Dixon ought to be able to wave them down at the ferry landing late this afternoon if you time it right and one up everyone.” Weatherman said, unfolding his plan a bit.
“That’s about an hour and a half by car from the crossroads, ain’t it?” David asked not too familiar with that part of the country.
“Yea, I already sent an away team that way by boat and truck to see if they can catch up to them and make sure you all can have your meeting. You ride the bus with Dixon and that banker over there and see what arrangements you can make on the way. Get that done and haul ass back here and get off the roads in case any ruckus starts with the traders or Feds at Rendezvous, if you get my drift.” Weatherman declared as he waved at Troy and his wife KC heading their way and motioning them over indicating it was alright to disturb whatever business it was that they had observed seeing him and David talking about so intently.
“Hey, David, how you doing? Good morning Weatherman. You and David already counting all his Rendezvous wealth before he even makes it?” KC said joking.
“No, actually we were discussing spending Troy’s.” David quipped back before advising them they needed to go ahead and see about leaving early as his plans had changed a little bit.
“Nothing bad, I take it?” Troy inquired curiously.
“Nothing we can’t handle with a bit of finagling. Weatherman will bring you up to speed while I go hunt up Gauge and see if he feels like tagging along.” David said pondering the possibilities before wandering off.
The biggest problem that all the traveling free traders faced nowadays was a structured economy, well, one that included and accepted them and their efforts to barter for goods anyway along with a viable readily accepted and “AVAILABLE “currency. You see, the great solar storm did more than just set technology back a hundred years and crash all the worlds existing economies, it also brought about all the misery and famine the Bible had predicted long ago that would push people towards taking the so called “Mark Of The Beast.” As the good book referred to. this was how the new “Recovery Currency” introduced by FEMA and The Federal Reserve was thought of and called. Now this was different than the new “Amero” introduced by the North American Monetary Union that most people had yet to see and hold but the radio said they existed and part of your induction into a FEMA or State resettlement camp included indoctrinations into its’ so called creditability and acceptance for payment of all debts as well as its’ identification just like they did with old timey check out cashiers when a new hundred dollar bill was introduced way back when.
However, like was mentioned, the majority of the populace had yet to hold even a new minted penny of such transferable wealth and instead depended on bits of not even linen paper like the old dollars were made of but instead used a dizzying array of colored paper called some form of script or another to make their purchases from franchised mostly military or state commissaries when in the settlement zones.
As a survivor of the worst days of the great collapse, your first introduction to “Recovery Currency” was handed down to you when you gave up any hope, dignity, self reliance or thoughts of Constitutional virtue and self evident rights along with the rest of your contraband at an induction center in order to eat.
It was pretty easy to force the majority of sheeple into submission and acceptance of a new currency and emergency powers mandates and curfews at first because what other choice did they have?
Working stiffs and down trodden souls who were living paycheck to paycheck woke up one morning to not being able to access their funds in banks because the power was going to be out for who knew how long and they were unemployed until a big brother government could see to their needs. Surely, most thought, the great politicians in Washington D.C. had a plan to rise above this adversity and make this nation great again! They would wait their turn, they would stand in line placidly and calmly to receive the government dole and shout down any attempts to go back to such an archaic historical notion of constitutional currency.
Many people remembered their Sunday school lessons (And that no man might buy or sell, save he that had the mark, or the name of the beast, or the number of his name) and heeded this spiritual and moral warning and of its dire consequences and because of their beliefs, refused to participate in this new world order and the new universal currencies imposed by the status quo of evil new money changers.
Well, free traders understood the consequences of being caught trading real metal for goods and as far as David was concerned trading paper of any sort was the same as trading shells or anything else so long as everyone agreed it had value. X amount of these can buy you one of those and the game was buying and selling with either.
He traded in military script occasionally, if he could keep up with the various issues, he of course didn’t do anything electronic and he definitely wasn’t going anywhere that took those kind of credits or signing up for the crap. He would probably still take Central Trade Bank notes if everyone said that’s what we will be using for currency, backed or not, as long as he could still buy what he wanted. He understood the concept of money backed by gold and silver but the rest of what passed for finances these days was like watching a foreign picture without the subtitles.
Right now though he needed a money metals exchange for his trading post and this community and he needed it quick. Too many people and too few resources was a recipe for disaster he well understood. Basically, in this infrastructure collapse, you learn to live in a constant state of alert and try to deal with the stress that causes, having financial woes on top of that can send many people over the edge.Practical knowledge and skills are among the most important things you can “collect” to prepare.
“Give fools their gold, and knaves their power; let fortune's bubbles rise and fall; who sows a field, or trains a flower, or plants a tree, is more than all.” John Greenleaf Whittier
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9
THE WAY OF THINGS
David figured he needed his vehicle even if he was supposed to ride on the
bus with Dixon for part of the journey. All his friends were already on their way to Rendezvous or had something to do around the community so he borrowed Ted from the general store as a relief driver if needed. He still didn’t know if Dixon would come back to the community with him or risk Rendezvous. Working vehicles were something the community had more than horses as older models without computers were found and worked on but gas was very limited. Most of the gas you could find had gone bad and nobody really had way to fix it other than add ethanol alcohol to it if you had access to a still.
The community kept two trucks normally running and topped off though and these were recruited along with his personal vehicle and a big flat bed junker truck he kept running to haul trade goods his regular driver Luke brought up to the front of the general store.
“I am going to get me a cup of coffee for the road and head on out and up the road in a second. Hey, uh, Troy, did Weatherman say anything about warning our people at rendezvous of the current banking situation?” David asked.
“He said to be as surprised as everyone else but to get Roland off to the side and tell him. Makes me feel like I am going to be tip toeing down a tightrope without a net. The whole concept of just letting people buy and sell with what might or might not be worthless paper is not comfortable a bit. Sucks actually, I asked him couldn’t I just come back here with you but he said he would leave it up to you and for you to send Gauge if you wanted to. How about it, David? You going to help me dodge that mess?” Troy said.
“Let me talk to Gauge later, he ain`t too happy about just having to go play spy for me yesterday but I will get you out of it if I can. I need to get word to Stewart some kind of way also but I am not sure how or if I should. Seems like I will be damned if I do and I will be damned if I don’t. I dang sure don’t want to get accused of leveraged trading somehow by advising him if everybody don’t know the facts already. It ain`t like I can tell Stewart or Farnsworth not to trade for Central Bank paper or be cashing in what they got quick as they can. I guess letting the chips fall where they may is about the only thing we can do for the moment and everybody wins or loses equally on luck and whatever normal trade practices they observe. Weatherman said he expects a radio announcement on the Emergency Broadcast system today so I say we don’t worry about breaking the news ourselves until later, could be everyone will know long before I need to send someone over there.” David said thinking this was indeed going to be a long day.
“Sounds like a plan, are you about ready to get this show on the road?” Troy asked.
“I guess I am as ready as I can be, come on Ted, grab your shotgun and let’s get rolling.” David said and he loaded up and headed out, staying on back roads and shortcutting down dirt roads as much as he could heading for Shillers Crossroads.
“Thanks for getting me out of the store today, David.” Ted said eying a tense David driving.
“Not a problem, thanks for coming along. It ain`t going to be that fun of a trip for you I am sorry to say. We are mostly delivering messages and turning around and coming back it looks like at the moment.” David said his mind on many things.
“Don’t matter to me; I like just riding around once in awhile. I can think of worse things to be doing.” Ted said starring out the window at the mostly wooded landscape.
“Wish I could!” David thought to himself and went back to worrying about what martial law measures might get imposed. It was very clear from the laws that were already in effect that the government has given itself a legal pretext for confiscating anything they so choose in the midst of an emergency.
Ted interrupted David’s scary thoughts about possible traveling restrictions and increased harassment of the Free Traders by commenting that some of David’s so called rutted dirt road shortcuts would soon be impassable after another season of rain and no maintenance.
“I hear you buddy, not many folks been down these roads in awhile. We will be on the main drag pretty soon; I am going to pull over for a bathroom break shortly just before we get there so just hang on. David said anticipating his turn off pretty soon and driving crazily but slowly while dodging fallen tree limbs and oil pan busting deep potholes.
“Do you think Dixon will have a hot meal available?” Ted asked hopefully.
“I doubt it; he is supposed to be mostly packed and ready to go time we get there. He will have something good and not long come off the campfire or out of the smoke house though.” David said thinking about what delicacies might just be available.
“Tell you what Ted, besides getting your lunch and dinner today we are going to get something to carry back to camp if he has anything like a smoked ham or two. That way your wife and the rest of the general store employees can have you a little party and good eats when we get back.” David declared.
“Why thank you, David! What’s the occasion?” Ted asked happily excited about getting so much good food and an adventure to boot.
“Well, you will be awful busy time everyone gets back from Trade Rendezvous; I wanted you to enjoy the break while you got it.” David replied saying nothing about the most likely upwards price changes of goods and irate customers they were going to have to deal with.
“Oh, we are always busy before and after Rendezvous, things don’t really settle down for a month or so as inventory is turned over and accounts are cleared.” Ted said as David slowed down in a clear area not far from where his back road intersected the main county road.
“Break time.” David said, parking his truck and getting out and stretching.
“Damn, boy, you picked the hell out of some roads to go down! This one here about rattled my teeth out.” Gauge said walking down the dusty road with Esmeralda.
“I didn’t know the roads had gotten this bad, we won’t be going back this way, though, I can’t even imagine it at night.” David said looking in back of them at Troy motioning him towards his truck.
“I will be with you in a minute, let me see what Troy wants. We will be here about 10 or 15 minutes.” David said leaving Ted to talk to the couple.
“What’s up, Troy?” David asked walking up to his trucks rolled down window.
“I have been listening to the radio, a couple interesting things have come up.” Troy stated.
“Really, what’s it say? I can hardly get anything on my vehicles’ radio back in these woods.” David said, regarding the man and his wife, KC.
“I should have said listening to shortwave, evidently fighting between civilians and government forces are breaking out nationwide.” Troy said knowingly.
“Well, we expected that, has the Emergency Broadcast network started its warnings and speeches yet?” David asked anxiously.
“They have, curfew on all roads, usual shit about hoarding and price gouging but they said anyone who fires on government or law enforcement will be considered a domestic terrorist and be dealt with as such.” Troy said frankly.
“Where are most of the problems outside the camps happening at?” David asked speculatively.
“That’s hard to say, the HAM operators are burning up the air waves it seems from all over but mostly centered around what looks like a running fight going to and away from the Central Traders Bank.
“I doubt it lasts longer than a season but there is no telling at this point. The government has vast supplies of weapons, fuel and supplies to keep thousands of soldiers and federal agents going for years still, probably. Still in all, we don’t know what kind of behind the scenes nasty politics might be going on.” David said glad the worst of it was taking place in other states than his.
“I think we need to take into account just who those civilians the government is calling domestic terrorists might be. We need to think on whom they might be fighting and why, they may be state police, military, the National Guard, or even “peacekeepers” from other countries. Some of those so called civilians after all this time have passed and as the central government continues to break down, could have stranded many in the same profession and le
ft them with dwindling supplies who may turn their attention to self-preservation. They’ll be trained, armed and disciplined as they seek to survive and I bet a lot of them had some metal in the Central Traders Bank.” Troy said ominously.
“So the revolution talk and rumors might have some merit to it, huh? Damn, I don’t need this! We struggle enough to keep our world together every day around here in the first place. I know you know how long it took us to build a working and producing garden capable of feeding 150% of the group. That’s in a good year without too many bugs or a drought! If it wasn’t for trade goods, we would have starved or never gotten to this point.” David bemoaned, thinking a whole new survival task to be mastered was at hand and that boiled down to getting by in a harsh political environment too.
“I know what you mean, David; it will be interesting to see what plan the Central Trades Bank will put in place now. They knew this could happen so let’s see what contingencies they have up their sleeve. Besides even in the last economic collapse people still used paper money for a while to try to get the things they needed.” Troy said until KC picked up the two way radio set she was monitoring and began talking.
