P.S. I left some goodies for you in my room, please take them if you can as Allah would not permit me to consume them.
Your Friend,
Ahmed Siluli
I folded the letter carefully and put it in my side pocket. Hopefully, I would be able to see Ahmed in the coming years once things calmed down.
Simone appeared puzzled that I led her into an empty room, “Ben, there’s nothing in here but some old army cots. Where is all your stuff?
“You see it all, but don’t see it….observe!” I walked to the outer wall and poked my finger into a spot covered by paper drywall tape. It ripped easily, revealing a handhold. I pulled on the handhold, and a concealed door swung out, revealing a room filled with about 10 years of accumulated survival gear.
I handed her a LED flashlight from my pack and led her inside my treasure cave. Simone marveled at the three rows of shelves that rose to the ceiling and contained everything a group of people would need to make a well supplied home out of the warehouse. On the first set of shelves, I had crates of MRE’s. Most were good until 2019, but they would remain edible for years after that if stored properly. Next came canned goods, which took up 15 feet of shelf space from the floor to the ceiling. I had collected everything from canned meat to vegtables from the supermarket along with large 5-gallon buckets of vacuum packed rice and pasta. Behind the canned food, I had five feet of canning supplies including my pressure cookers, glass jars of all sizes and 8000 canning lids.
The second row of shelves first five-foot section contained spare clothing and shoes. I had saved sneakers, work boots, combat boots as well as socks and underwear. Most of the clothing I got from surplus sales and warehouse liquidations for pennies on the dollar. It was pretty boring stuff, but at least I would have a pair of pants if I survived for the long term. I stored my non-GMO seeds on this shelf as well to include foodstuffs for both summer and fall planting. The second shelf also contained my reloading supplies and equipment. I had 50 assorted pounds of gunpowder 20,000 primers and about 20,000 bullets and brass of various calibers. Behind that was the loaded ammunition I had stored over the years totaling 50,000 rounds of various calibers. I also stored several extra rifles and pistols that I purchased over the years or miraculously “found” while in the course of my duties as a street sergeant.
I joked to Simone, “No smoking near the second shelf!”
“I’ll try to remember that Rambo!”
The third set of shelves contained medical supplies and hand tools along with various pieces of hardware stored in jars. Rope, string and wire were neatly coiled around spools and stored next to the tools. I finished the tour with what I called the Library, which contained hundreds of books on mechanics, food preparation, medicine, defense, and gardening. All of the shelves were neatly arranged by subject and in alphabetical order. In the very back of my cache were about 100 Rubbermaid totes with covers that would be used to transport the loose objects in my cache. I designated two of the totes for Eagle and Palmyra, and packed them with the agreed upon materials for passing through their towns.
“So, what do you think?”
“How much did all of this cost Ben? It had to be a fortune!”
“I would guess that I spent about $50,000 over a ten year period….not a whole lot when you think about it. Plus an additional $500-1000 I invest in it yearly for replacement of perishables or better equipment when it comes on the market. For example, the aluminized pouches I kept all my flashlights in just came on the market this year. Besides, the rent here is free, so I didn’t have that cost…all in all a wise investment I think.”
“I have to agree Ben, it is an impressive collection!”
“Unfortunately for us Simone, we now have cause to use it.”
Simone nodded, “Yeah, unfortunately we do.”
Meanwhile……..
Roland came back into town as darkness fell, and went directly to Jerry’s office. Jerry had his feet up on the desk, reading a Swank.
Roland knocked, “Sir, I lost them in the park…they were just too quick for me!”
A baleful eye rose over the pornographic magazine, “You lost them?”
Roland shifted on his feet, “Well, I was on foot, and they were on bikes. They used the hill to speed into the park and conceal themselves among the buildings. I saw some promising bike tracks in the dirt around the North section of the park though. What should I do now?”
Jerry slapped the magazine on the desk and approached Roland, “You’re going to take your ass back out there and find out where they went, I don’t care how long it takes….FIND THEM! Do not alert them to your presence, we need them to load the truck for us before we take it from them. Remember surprise is the key!”
“Yes sir, I’ll sneak back and find them, you can bet on it!” Roland turned and left the office as if his back end was on fire.
Jerry returned to his magazine mumbling, “Why must I be surrounded by such incompetence!”
Back at the Warehouse……
“Let’s go and see what Ahmed left us!” I took Simone by the hand and led her to Room BB1126 on the second floor of the warehouse. The door was open, and I pushed it inward. Using a lantern I liberated from my supply cache, I shined a light in and was amazed at the gifts that remained for me by my dear friend. There were 50 cases of assorted Rum and 50 cases of other assorted liquors. Next to the substantial stash of liquor was half a pallet of baby formula and 25 cases of meal replacement drinks. Tucked behind the formula pallet were about 100 cartons of cigarettes of various brands, all of them fresh, but missing the Wisconsin tax stamp.
“I know why Ahmed left the liquor, perhaps he couldn’t carry all of this stuff, so he had to leave it behind.”
“What did your friend Ahmed do Ben?” Simone eyed the cigarettes suspiciously.
“He owned a chain of gas stations and U-Haul places along with this building. I met him while I was working on the beat, and we became friends. I knew of some of his shady dealings, but I turned a blind eye because he wasn’t hurting anyone, and he fed my friends in Homeland Security a few pieces of information a year on the more radical Muslim elements in the city.”
“You’re a complicated man Ben Smith.”
“And no one understands me but my woman!”
Simone whispered, “Ben Smith!”
“Can you dig it!”
At that moment, I realized what an extraordinary person Simone was. Not only was she sharp and strong, she knew the theme from Shaft as well, and not the stupid version with Mr. Snakes on a Plane, the authentic Richard Roundtree film.
“Simone, can you help me move this stuff downstairs, I want to take it with us when we go. It’ll be invaluable for trading!”
“Sure, let’s get it done today, so we don’t have to come up tomorrow.”
We spent the next two hours moving Ahmed’s gifts to my room the warehouse. By the time we finished, we were covered in the gray dust that is common to most warehouses. I offered Simone a chance to clean up, and she jumped at it. I showed Simone the shower and gave her a towel and some soap. While she showered, I set up the cots and radioed Cambridge to give them a status report.
I set up the long-range antenna and made my call, “Bravo one to C-bridge, Bravo one to C-bridge how’s my signal?”
Mitch answered back, “Bravo one you are loud and clear, what is your situation, over.”
“We have made it to the honey pot and have acquired additional consumables; I hope you have a big transport, over.”
Mitch came on the radio, “You won’t believe what I was able to cobble together, we got ourselves some grand surprises coming your way.”
“Excellent, I estimate eight to nine K of consumables, can you handle that?”
“That and more my friend! We cleaned out the store already, and it worked like a charm. A crew of six took about 120 to load the truck!”
“So, Mitch’s supplies were collected…excellent," I thought to myself.
“C-bridge, I
have to advise you that the honey pot is surrounded by wasps, so we have to be ready for an attack. I think they’re going to let you in, but prevent us from leaving. Bring the fifty and a couple of bottle rockets along. Hopefully, that should take care of any opposition.”
“I’ll do you one better Bravo one, I will bring some extra tricks from our last little party, that should keep them busy and off our backs.”
“I like the way you think…..what is your ETA at my location?”
“Let’s call it Fowl or Finch, be ready!”
Mitch just told me that they would be there around four or five am, leaving us less than 12 hours for sleep and setup.
“Ok. Just to let you know I have a second package with me, they have decided to stay with us in Cambridge.”
“That’s great to hear! I know somebody up here that is going to be jumping for joy when they hear that. C-Bridge out!”
I shut off the radio and packed it away. Simone returned with a happy look on her face, “Man that shower made me feel like a new woman! I’m ready for some food and a little rest!
“Roger that, after I take a shower we’ll do that. I got lots to tell you, but let’s do it over our meal.”
“Sounds good. Enjoy your shower!”
I collected up my things and made my way to the shower situated in the back of the warehouse. It was a gang style shower left over from an unsuccessful boxing gym a guy had set up in the warehouse about 5 years ago. As I passed a low window, I noticed a shadow of a man walking between the buildings. I heard his footsteps and the man mumbling to himself. I flattened myself against the wall and waited for him to pass the nearest access door. I eased the access door open and tackled him from behind, driving him to the ground and knocking the wind out of him. I flipped him over and delivered a knockout punch to his face, and he went limp. I dragged him back into my room by his heels. I dropped our guest’s legs onto the cement as Simone looked up from drying her hair.
“Simone look what I found wandering around the buildings………my ex-partner’s spy!
“Good catch! You were right; that fuckhead is searching for us. Let’s kill this little fuck and dump him somewhere else in the complex to throw off the scent.”
“Man, you can be bloodthirsty when you want to be sister!”
“When protecting my own hide and the hides of my friends…..you can bet the house on it!”
“We just might kill this guy later, but I want to have a chat with him first. We need to know about Jerry’s plans for us.”
“Ok. I’ll keep an eye on him Ben, you go off to shower.”
Simone tied him up tight with duct tape and watched over him while I took my shower.
When I returned to my room, I found Simone fully dressed in new fatigues and a brown military shirt standing over our guest.
“Ben, meet Roland Harper.”
I ignored him for a moment, “You look rather fetching in tan my dear.”
“Can it honky! I didn’t think you would mind as my other stuff is just about shot.”
“Quite so. Mi casa es su casa.” I turned to our guest, “Unless I miss my guess, you’re a spy sent in by Jerry aren’t you?
Roland nodded, “Jerry sent me to find out what building you were in and report back. Man, when he heard you coming he went ballistic! He hates you, he thinks you’re a traitor and got him fired in Milwaukee. He was telling his inner circle that he is going to cut you to pieces and rape her until she’s dead.
I nodded, my hands steepled in front of me, “I suspected that Roland. Now what are we going to do with you? I can’t just let you walk out of here. I also suspect that Jerry has a nasty surprise waiting for my friends when they arrive…what do you know about that?”
Roland spoke, “Man, I’ll tell you what you want to know. Jerry is a psychopath and he runs the town like a concentration camp. People are too afraid to rise up against him, so they just take it! I want out. If you give me a ride to Waukesha and put in a good word for me, I’ll help you get out of here.
“I’ll consider it based on what you have to tell me. So, what does he plan to do to my friends and me when they arrive?
“He is going to let them in and let you load the truck up with all of your supplies. Then he’s going to ambush you just before you leave and kill all of your people. If you slip the ambush, he plans to stop you at the roadblock at Highway Y.
I chuckled, “Really, that’s the plan General Jerry Custer came up with?”
“That’s about the size of it Ben. He is so obsessed with destroying you that he couldn’t come up with anything better!”
“Ok Roland, I believe you. But I still really don’t trust you. If you want out, I’ll help you, but you got to help us arrange the supplies here and load the truck. Also, I want you to walk me around and show me where Jerry plans to ambush us. I might just have a surprise for him.”
“Sure thing, I’ll take you now.”
Roland led us out of the building and walked us up a grassy hill that led away from the warehouse. He pointed out a copse of trees that faced the garage door to my cache, “There is where they’ll come from, and there’s a trail that leads up through the woods to here. It looks like it’s just dumb luck that the trail ends right where your cache is Ben.”
I looked down at my garage door and silently damned Mr. Murphy and his law. From the trail head, they could hit both sides of the truck at once and wipe us out before we knew what hit us without damaging much of the cargo. Jerry had gotten lucky. I resolved to ensure that this was the only piece of luck he got during our little dance.
“Let’s get back and arrange the supplies for a quick load out. I have to make another radio call to home and let them know about this new development.” We returned to the cache and Simone and Roland set to work arranging the supplies for loading.
I called Cambridge and advised Mitch to have a sniper set up on The National Avenue bridge about 500 yards away from the roadblock with the .50 caliber rifle. He advised me that a convoy of Army personnel came to Cambridge to protect a valuable Historical site. When they heard the plan to get the supplies, a group of soldiers volunteered to come and were going to bring a few force multipliers along to the party. With the company of soldiers added to the to the supply run along with a few civilians, so Mitch was confident that our pickup should go without a hitch. I signed off confident that we had an excellent chance of overcoming whatever Jerry threw at us.
Once finished with the supply arrangement, we had a meal of canned meat, along with some MRE crackers and cheese spread. We also opened a bottle of Cruzan Blackstrap Rum and passed it amongst us.
We also learned more about Roland, apparently a little alcohol loosened his tongue more than any threats could. Roland was a high school history teacher dragooned into service by Jerry and his henchmen. He was basically a glorified gofer who got pushed into any duty they might need done on the spur of the moment. The only reason he had not fled New Berlin sooner was because Jerry threatened that he would kill his diabetic and bedridden mother if the tried to run.
Roland laughed drunkenly, “ What Jerry doesn’t know is my poor mother passed on two days ago from lack of insulin. I wrapped her up and covered her with the fishing boat in the backyard. When you caught me Ben, I knew that with you I had a potential escape route. Jerry and his thugs would have caught me if I ran on foot and killed me on the spot.”
Simone looked at me with a degree of concern, “That’s terrible Roland, I’m sorry you lost your mom. I hope she went peacefully.”
Roland looked at Simone with glassy eyes, “I think she did, She seemed to just slip away right before my eyes. I knew that when her insulin ran out it would just be a matter of time, she knew it too.”
Roland began to weep, “Please understand, I’m sorry that my mother died this way, but there was no way I could get us out from under Jerry’s boot heel.” He covered his face in his hands and began to cry openly.
I went over to Roland and put my hand on his shoul
der, “I think we all need some rest now, the truck should be arriving in about 6 hours…we need to be as rested as possible by then. Don’t take it personally Roland, but I have to tie you up again. I simply can’t risk you running off to Jerry and spoiling our plans.”
“I understand Ben.” He raised his hands up in front of him and I taped them back up. We put him on a chaise lounge I found in Ahmed’s storage room and taped him securely so there would be no possibility of escape.
Simone and I then went to the cots and fell into a dreamless sleep, recharging our batteries for the arrival of our friends.
Chapter 26
I slept for about three hours and woke with a start. I saw Roland just where we left him tied to the chaise lounge and Simone off to my left sleeping on her cot. I noticed she placed her cot against the door, totally eliminating the only escape route if Roland turned out to be a double-crosser. I went over to my gear and checked out my personal combat load. From my cache I had replaced my Molle vest with a plate carrier that contained SAPI plates on the front and rear. I attached magazine pouches, my pistol holster and a small blowout kit to the vest. I switched out my rifle as well. I put up my AR-15 and switched to my short barrel AK-74. In America, this version of the AK is called the Krinkov, but Russian troops called it the cigarette butt, or more affectionately sushka, or “little bitch”. It was a nasty close in weapon that fired the 5.45x39mm “poison bullet”. The rounds were designed to strike a target and yaw upwards, causing a massive wound, which meant that one shot usually finished the target. The round also had a piece of hardened steel incorporated into it, allowing it to penetrate a quarter inch of armor plate at 400 meters. Because the round was a bit smaller that the AR-15’s, I was able to carry two additional magazines on my vest, bringing my total round count to 360. I tried it on for size and made the proper adjustments so that I could move freely in it and set it aside. I disassembled my weapon and gave it a light coating of oil on the moving parts to ensure it would operate flawlessly when the time came. Once completed, I made a cup of coffee for myself and began to wait.
Lights out in America's Dairyland: An EMP Adventure Page 22
