Small Town EMP (Book 3): Survive The Conflict

by Hamilton, Grace

  “Any luck?” Gretchen asked from beside him, doing the same thing.

  Austin noticed they each had a pile of pine cones beside them. “What are you doing?” he asked.

  Gretchen smiled. “Pine nuts. I now understand why they’re so expensive in the grocery stores. Or were, I suppose.”

  He raised an eyebrow. “Pine nuts?”

  She reached for the bottom half of a two-liter bottle they had picked up and cut to use as a bowl. He looked inside and saw some tiny pale seeds.

  “I know it isn’t a lot, but they do have some protein. Ideally, I would want Pinyon Pine or something like that with bigger nuts, but we had nothing else to do and I hate to do nothing. A little is better than nothing,” Gretchen said.

  “Is that what the chipmunks and squirrels go after?” Mike asked.

  Gretchen smiled. “It is. See this one?” She held up a cone that was still green and unopened. “We can collect more of these and set them near the fire. The heat will open them up and we can get to the seeds before the squirrels and chipmunks have a chance. The ones that are already open are what the animals are going after. It’s tedious, but we’re pulling these apart to get at the remaining seeds.”

  “Whatever works. It’s a good use of time, and we got some bags of berries. Not a bad breakfast, really. Where’s Ennis?” he asked, looking around for his brother.

  “He took Harlen to try and do some fishing,” Malachi replied.

  “Amanda?” he asked, doing his usual roll call.

  “She went with Harlen and Ennis to collect some water,” Gretchen said.

  “Did any of you sleep?” Mike asked.

  “We tried, and we did get a little rest, but I hate doing nothing,” Gretchen reiterated. “Plus, the sun’s up—not easy to sleep in bright daylight. You said you found some berries?”

  “Raspberries and strawberries,” Wendell replied eagerly.

  Gretchen and Malachi both grinned, and Mike sat down beside them to have a go at a pine cone with them.

  Austin took off his pack and carefully propped the rifle against a tree. “I’m going to the stream to check on the others,” he said, wanting to get away from Wendell.

  He glanced over at Savannah, but decided she was safe enough with the others around. He headed into the trees that led to the crystal-clear stream, which was only about four feet wide and a foot deep. Great for water, but he couldn’t imagine Ennis was going to find any fish in it. No matter. He needed to talk to his brother about his friend.

  Once at the stream, he followed it down about half a mile, following the sound of Ennis’s voice. When he ran into Ennis and Harlen, they were sitting on a couple of small rocks, staring at the water that was lacking any kind of fishing apparatus.

  “What are you doing?” Austin asked.

  Ennis looked up and smiled as Austin approached. “If I said we were fishing, would you believe me?”

  “No,” Austin said dryly.

  “Our intent was to fish, but there’s no fish to find. We were just taking a breather,” he replied.

  Austin could see the dark circles under his eyes; he knew he was beat. He could understand the feeling, and didn’t blame him a bit for taking some time to do nothing at all.

  “I see. We managed to get some berries, but that was it,” Austin reported.

  “Have a seat and take a load off,” Ennis said, patting a rock beside him.

  Austin did as suggested. “What happened last night?” he asked.

  “We found a small town; looked to be nothing more than a few trailer parks burned to the ground. There were a few buildings, old factories and warehouses. We didn’t see anyone when we walked through and decided to hunker down in a factory overnight,” he explained, and then went on to tell him about the night in detail.

  “Wow. I guess that’s a dead-end there.”

  “What about you? Any luck?”

  Austin thought for a moment, processing everything. “Yes and no. We ran into the same problem at the town we found. There was an NWO soldier there, though. Still alive, but he’d been burned and was injured; I’m sure he’s dead by now. We found a couple satellite messengers on him, and we’re hoping we can charge them with the solar charger. Sarah’s working on that. One of the messengers had a bit of juice left in the battery, and there was a message with a date. The soldier called it ‘Doomsday’ before he passed out, and it came with a countdown. Less than a month out. We’re thinking… what if there’s a correlation between that date and the files Sarah’s finding on the laptop?”

  “What’s the date?”

  “Twenty-seven days from now,” Austin said, his voice somber. “But I’ve no idea if that’s a doomsday countdown or something else, truth be told. We’re just trying to put together the facts we have with what we’ve found.”

  “I think it’s safe to say it isn’t someone’s birthday,” Ennis replied. “So, what’s the plan?”

  Austin shook his head, still trying to piece it all together. “Sarah has some ideas for how to take down the NWO if we can untangle the information on the laptop and figure out where to go. I’m thinking we might just hunker down here and give her a few days to see what she comes up with and if there’s something we can do.”

  “Can we use the messengers?” Ennis asked. “Maybe contact others who can help?”

  Austin shrugged. “Sarah seemed to think so, but there’s concern that anyone else with the same units could see our messages if they’re on the same frequency, so we’d have to be careful. Who knows if they’ll be on our side or the NWO’s? But we won’t know until we try.”

  “How did Wendell do?” Harlen asked, changing the subject.

  Austin let out a long sigh. “Yesterday, fine. I mean, he didn’t do anything great, but he didn’t cause any problems.”

  “But today?” Ennis prodded.

  “Today, he nearly got me killed,” Austin muttered.

  “What? How?” Ennis asked with surprise.

  Austin ran his hand over his dark beard, replaying the scene. “We ran into a bear while we were picking berries, or rather, the bear ran into us. I was closest. Wendell started throwing rocks at the thing,” he said, exasperation in his voice. “And we’re not talking a small bear, guys.”

  “Maybe he didn’t know what else to do and thought he was helping,” Ennis offered.

  “We told him to stop, several times. Mike had to tackle him to the ground,” Austin said.

  “What happened with the bear?” Harlen asked after a moment.

  “It walked away.”

  Ennis threw his head back and laughed. “Sounds like ol’ Wendy saved your bacon. He wasn’t trying to get you killed.”

  “If you say so.”

  “Look, he’s doing a lot better than he was a few weeks ago. Give him some time. He needs to prove he’s part of the group. You know he’s always been socially awkward. I don’t think he’s trying to be mean or get anyone hurt. Seriously, we’re all he has. He won’t survive out here on his own. He can’t afford to hurt or kill any of us,” Ennis reasoned.

  Harlen looked thoughtful. “I agree. The guy has some issues, but I don’t think he’s necessarily bad. He needs to learn how to work with others and how to contribute. It’s going to take some time.”

  Austin knew there was no point in arguing. For now, he’d keep his guard up and do his best to keep a close eye on the man. As much as he disliked Wendell, he wanted him close.

  Plus, they had other problems.

  8

  Amanda felt like she could fall asleep standing up. She was so tired after the grueling journey the night before and the lack of sleep, her bones actually hurt. She didn’t care that she was sitting on the hard ground with no shelter over her head. Her body demanded sleep. It also wanted something more substantial than berries and greens and nuts, but that was another matter. After breakfast, she’d moved the horses to a flat, open area with lots of green grass after leading them to the water to drink their fill. The simple task had sa
pped her energy.

  She looked up from her spot outside the circle of people sitting around the campfire in the fading sunlight and saw Austin and Sarah in the lean-to, talking in hushed voices. Austin was gesturing and had a look of frustration on his face. The information wasn’t coming fast enough for him. She hadn’t had a chance to catch up with him yet about what his grand plan for saving the world was, but assumed it was something to do with the USB. It always was. She appreciated his hopefulness and his willingness to do something good, too, but she couldn’t help but think they were just a lone group of survivors. They had no chance against something like the NWO. It was an opinion she hadn’t shared with him, knowing he wouldn’t want to hear it.

  She mustered the energy to get up and walk into the lean-to. Austin looked up and held out a hand to help her sit down next to him.

  “Why don’t you try and sleep?” Austin suggested, his tone gentle. “You took care of the horses, but you need to take care of you too.”

  She shook her head. “Not yet. You told me you had some news. Can you tell me now?”

  He half-smiled. “Well, the good news…. Basically, in a nutshell, this laptop has the codes to missiles that will shoot down satellites hovering above the earth’s atmosphere that are holding nuclear warheads. And we think we know a timeline of how long we have to use them.”

  Amanda blinked, rubbing her face as she tried to focus. She couldn’t possibly have heard him correctly. “Austin, do you plan on blowing up the earth?” she asked.

  Sarah looked up from the laptop and frowned at her before returning to her work.

  He grinned. “No, but it is an option. The satellites would blow up, and the nuclear bombs would explode high in the atmosphere and not touch us here on the surface.”

  “You’re sure about that?” she asked.

  He opened his mouth, closed it, and then opened it again to finally answer. “Not entirely, but yes, I think so.”

  “Why do the satellites matter? How does that help us?”

  “We believe our government is already working on a solution to this problem. They have enough underground bunkers to have some technology functioning that would allow them to restore the power grid or to at least get started in that direction. If this thing is worldwide, other countries are going to have the same technology and will be working hard to fight back against the NWO. Those satellites are the NWO’s safety net, their back-up plan. At the first sign of progress, they’re going to launch another EMP and set us back to square one,” Austin explained.

  She took a minute to process what he was saying. “Okay. So, what’s our role?”

  “We get to the missiles and kill the satellites,” he said, as if it was as simple as running down to the grocery store.

  “You want to shoot down nuclear warheads?” Ennis asked, squatting down outside the lean-to. “Am I hearing that right?”

  “Yes,” Austin replied without hesitation.

  “That seems dangerous,” Tonya said, her arm going around Malachi’s shoulders where they sat around the fire.

  Amanda looked around—they’d been talking louder than she’d realized, and most everyone was present and listening now.

  “Living like we are is dangerous,” Mike chimed in.

  The group erupted, everyone talking at once about the pros and cons of the situation before the arguing transformed into a litany of complaints.

  “Stop!” Austin said, holding up a hand and climbing out of the shelter to stand beside it.

  Amanda could see his legs and nothing else, but noticed that everyone outside the shelter was looking up at him. They were waiting for him to tell them what to do; for better or worse, they’d accepted him as their leader, and it was his idea they wanted to hear most.

  “Let him talk,” Ennis said to the crowd when the murmurs started again.

  “I know we’re lost in every way, but this could be our only chance at fixing things,” Austin started.

  “Why us? Where’s the government?” Ezra asked.

  Austin shrugged. “I don’t know. I hope they’re underground somewhere, maybe Cheyenne, working on a fix to this. I do know that the files that were passed to me were not seen by anyone else. My friend did a lot of digging to get those files. He tried to tell the bigwigs at the Pentagon and no one would listen. He entrusted me with finding someone willing to pay attention. Unfortunately, things happened fast, maybe because they knew Callum was onto their operation and was about to shut it down. I don’t know. I do know I’m tired of living like this. I’m tired of worrying how I’ll keep my daughter safe and worrying about her future. I have to do something. We have the knowledge, and I think we owe it to ourselves and our country to do something about it.”

  “How are we supposed to shoot missiles? Isn’t that a little more technical than pushing a big red button?” Gretchen said.

  Sarah cleared her throat. “It is. It requires specific codes—which I have.”

  Amanda whipped her head around to stare at the woman. Austin dropped down low, staring into the lean-to. “You do?” he asked with excitement. “You got them?”

  Sarah offered a rare, tired smile. “I do.”

  Amanda turned back to look at Austin, who was grinning like a fool. “Austin, I have one little question.”

  “What?” he asked, still grinning.

  “Where are we supposed to find missiles?” she asked.

  Austin’s grin faded as he looked to Dr. Bastani. The woman grimaced. “I’m working on it.”

  “What about Cheyenne?” Harlen asked. “Isn’t that a huge underground bunker with missiles and all that?”

  Amanda nodded. “It is.”

  “We also have to disable the systems controlling the satellites,” Sarah said, looking at Austin pointedly as if he should have remembered this part.

  “How are we supposed to do that?” Wendell asked.

  “We find the control center and disable it. Then, and only then, do we launch the missiles to destroy the satellites,” Sarah explained. “It has to happen in order—that’s our one shot at ending all this.”

  Amanda looked to Austin. His simplistic plan had just gotten a lot more complicated. The look on his face was one of disappointment, but he moved to sit back down next to her. “And you’re still looking for the locations? So, how? How do we do that?” he asked, clearly not giving up on his goal of winning the war against the NWO.

  Sarah looked up from the computer, seeming to notice for the first time that all eyes were on her. Everyone was waiting for her to give them the secret.

  “There are three likely places the NWO would be commandeering to guide the satellites,” she started. “I don’t know where for sure. Once the guidance system is disabled, the missiles could be launched. Unfortunately, the computer center and the missile silos are not going to be in the same place.”

  The group fell quiet again, all of them struggling to understand the information.

  “We find the computer center, disable it, and then find the missiles,” Amanda said, breaking it down.

  “Yes,” Sarah said firmly, “but the problem is time.”

  “What if they move to another one of those three places you’re talking about while we’re trying to find missiles?” Drew asked.

  “That’s another problem,” Sarah muttered.

  “It has to be a coordinated attack. We have to take out the guidance system and launch the missiles shortly after,” Austin said, summing it up.

  Wendell scoffed. “Oh, so simple.”

  Amanda shot the man another glare. She was cranky, in need of sleep, and had zero patience left to deal with his snide comments. “Anything is possible.”

  “You don’t know where these potential sites for computer centers might be?” Ennis asked.

  Sarah shook her head. “Not yet. I’m digging. These files are buried deep. I just need more time.”

  “Do we sit here and wait?” Ennis asked, looking to Austin.

  Austin looked at Amanda. She
really had no answers, and gave a little shrug.

  “How long do you think it will take you to unlock those files?” Austin asked.

  Sarah looked up. “It could be in five minutes or five years, I don’t know. The fact that I found the codes already is promising… but there are no guarantees.”

  Amanda scowled. The woman’s response wasn’t exactly encouraging. She turned to look back at Austin, waiting to see what he would say.

  “Well, we only have so much time,” he said, and with that he filled the group in on the countdown and messengers they’d found on the NWO soldier. “The fact is,” he finished, “if we move now, we could be moving away from where we need to be to make a move against the NWO. And there’s only so much time. This isn’t an ideal location, but we’re doing okay. I say we give Sarah a few days to work on this rather than moving needlessly. We’ll do what we can to rest up and get ready to move when we can. If she hasn’t found it in a week or so, we can re-evaluate.”

  Tonya nodded, though she didn’t look excited. “Meanwhile, we can think about what to do if Sarah doesn’t find those locations—if we can’t do anything against the NWO,” she said gently, her eyes on Austin. “Where do we go if that date passes and nothing has changed?”

  Amanda met Austin’s eyes and saw the worry there, but he didn’t argue.

  Everyone looked at one another. “We need to get somewhere with a mild climate,” Gretchen offered. “A place where we can grow food all year, or at least a good portion of the year.”

  Amanda smiled, liking the way the woman thought. She was thinking long term. It was smart, and meant she had accepted what was happening. This plan against the NWO was a longshot, whether Austin wanted to admit it or not.

  “I agree,” Amanda chimed in.

  “I like that idea, but don’t you think everyone else is going to have the same idea?” Harlen asked.

  “We can’t live in the mountains through winter with no shelter,” Mike added.

  “I agree, but the mountains offer resources that we aren’t going to find in the lower elevations,” Amanda said. “Plus, we are somewhat sheltered in the mountains.”