A Haunt of Jackals

by G. R. Carter

  After a while: “Care to share?” Darwin stood with an eyebrow raised.

  JR nodded and sat back in his chair. “It’s a journal. Important numbers, dates, people’s names…lots of things I don't understand. Almost like a code. Cliff Notes version? There were several groups coming to the lodge this week to meet with us.” He glared accusingly at Sy.

  Sy stuttered, confused. “Your dad said to bring some extra supplies in…but he told me it was for a party. Said he wanted to treat all the locals to a big shindig. I asked why but he didn’t bother to tell me. But nothin’ about havin’ a bunch more VIPs in.” He was still scratching his head. “Shoot, did he say when they’d be here?” he asked as he pointed to Casey Sr.’s journal.

  “Yesterday,” JR said dejectedly. Clearly, whoever had intended to come was staying home or was stuck halfway between home and here.

  Darwin thought about what some of the lodge workers said—no contrails had been spotted overhead for a couple of days. If anyone was flying here, or driving a modern vehicle, they’d be sitting still now. Hopefully waiting on a tarmac instead of in a pile of wreckage, he thought.

  His thoughts went to his security detail. People like him and the Caseys were under constant threat of kidnapping for ransom. They seldom traveled without a group of trained guards, usually ex-Special Forces types, unquestionably loyal. Darwin's group was supposed to be with them this week, giving Casey's men some time off after watching over them in Chicago for the past several days. Delayed by extra-strong magnetic storms, they would have been landing in St. Louis about the time the electricity went out.

  The three spent the next couple of hours reading from Ben's journal. The contents were an eclectic collection of thoughts and facts and figures. Some passages amazed them, some frightened them, most just confused them.

  “Your dad never told you about all this?” Darwin asked suspiciously.

  “We talked about it a lot recently. But nothing specific, not like this.”

  “I’m still not sure I’d call this specific. Not exactly. What do you think it means?” Sy asked them both.

  “Here’s what I figure. Dad got wind of some sort of plan to seize control of the country…I guess a coup, you could call it. He started reaching out to people he could trust, powerful people who could help keep this from happening. That’s what this week was about, kind of a final meeting. Sounds like things were coming to a head.”

  “That’s crazy, though. I just can’t believe a handful of people could take over this entire country,” Sy said.

  “Reckon they already have, mate. Think on it. Your healthcare is run by Health and Human Services, your food is distributed based on your health records…”

  “Not here they ain’t,” Sy interjected.

  “Right, and you’re about, what, one percent of the population, out here in the countryside? The other 99 percent lives in housing approved by FHA. Think it over, your President can control just about everything every citizen does right from his desk.”

  “Not my President. I didn’t vote for him,” Sy cut in again.

  “Know anybody who actually did?” JR asked. “I sure don’t.”

  “Kara's idiot ex-husband. Always votes for whoever is promising the biggest payoff,” Sy replied. “Besides, doesn’t matter which side has power, they’re just gonna do for theirs and leave the rest of us to twist.”

  “So if elections don’t count for anything, how does power change hands? By force…?” JR paused, a look of sudden pain twisting his face. He looked at Darwin with watering eyes, “You don’t think Dad was involved with this, do you? He was no fan of the President…” He shook his head. “Actually he hated the President. And the Speaker, and the Senate…”

  “Not a chance, JR,” Darwin said. His Aussie accent made the “R” drawn-out to an “aaahh”, adding emphasis. “Not the Ben Casey I knew. He was one of the last patriots left in this world. Made me figure not all you Yanks were lost. I tried to tell him to move down under with me. He could have been a star there. Said no way, he was gonna fight to change things here.”

  JR nodded, relieved to hear what his heart wished for. “So then he was on the other side—wait, I guess that makes three sides. Elected officials versus this group looking to seize power, and then Dad’s group.”

  “At least three, maybe more.”

  “And if Dad’s gone, and the rest of his group—I wish they had a name that would make it easier to talk about them—are stuck somewhere…maybe the power grid is down because fighting broke out somewhere.”

  Darwin was nodding, but Sy held up his hand. “Come on, fellas. The power’s been out a couple of days and ya’ll have the whole friggin’ world comin’ unglued. I know the rich and powerful are big thinkers, but don’t you reckon you’re takin’ it to the extreme?” he asked. “How’s about we just give it a couple days and see what happens?”

  Darwin was dead serious when he shook his head. “First mover advantage, Sy. Error on the aggressive, that’s what I always tell my employees. See a pattern, jump on it and damn the consequences. You don’t always have to be right jumpin’ early, but sure as shootin’ you don’t wanna be wrong waitin’ too long. Competition will have you beat before you know what hit you.”

  “I agree,” JR said. “What do you suggest?”

  “That if we’re thinkin’ this, someone else is, too. And likely there’s someone been plannin’ what to do when this happened.”

  “Then what next?” Sy asked. “We’re in the middle of nowhere, ya'll have said as much numerous times.” He again glanced at JR. “Not much we can do help out a government that doesn’t even know we exist. Well, I guess they know you two exist, but we can’t get you out to DC anyway.”

  Darwin laughed out loud. “No way I’d want to be in DC, or any other city right now!”

  “Dang it, Darwin, I don’t understand what the heck you’re talkin’ about! I’m about as confused right now…” Sy walked over to the window to look out over the lodge’s back pasture. It was about three acres, sloping gently back to the treeline. Max and little Trey ran around with the dogs, not a care in the world. “A couple of days ago my biggest worry was how to make rich people happy, show ‘em a good time. Now you’re trying to convince me we’re about to see another civil war.”

  “The last civil war,” JR said. “One thing I remember Dad saying was a quote from…I think it was from Einstein. He said, ‘I don’t know what weapons World War III will be fought with, but World War IV will be fought with sticks and stones.’ His opinion was the next big fight would be so brutal it would set the clock of civilization back thousands of years.”

  Darwin agreed. “Millions livin’ on top of each other in the cities, none of them knowin’ how to grow so much as a tomato themselves. Totally helpless, relyin’ on someone else to give ‘em their daily bread.”

  Sy turned as the light bulb went on in his mind. “The power…if someone shut off the power in a city it would be like settin’ off a nuclear bomb. There’d be all kinda riots, no way the cops could control it. The whole thing would burn down.”

  “I’ve been to several cybersecurity conferences that discussed the grid. It's riddled with weaknesses. Infrastructure is bad around here, but a lot of the trillions the governments been spending in urban areas means any problems in population centers would have to be internal,” JR said.

  “What about Grapevine,” Darwin said. “My tech guys always warned me about artificial intelligence turning on us. Never thought it might actually happen.”

  JR nodded. “It’s in the journal.” He started to thumb through the pages, looking for the passage that jarred his memory. “He’s always hated the idea of having a computer system tracking everyone’s every move. We’ve spent millions trying to keep our secrets out of that network. Dad always thought the solar storms were an excuse to put Grapevine in place.”

  Darwin smiled and nodded. “I made several billion helping install the infernal thing back home, but no way I trust my co
mpany’s data on there. Mines all dummied and falsified; real info is on a separate server.”

  “But everyone else in the world was forced to integrate Grapevine into every part of their life, just to save their precious internet connections. The solar storms caused glitches to their devices and they just couldn’t stand it. Every shred of privacy and self-reliance they had left is gone; now they rely on artificial intelligence to give them everything they need.”

  “Even around here,” Sy said. “Wasn’t just the city folks who came to rely on those machines. Our hospitals, the ones that stayed open, all computerized. Most of the folks in town got ration bars and had those wristband devices for purchases, even though local cops didn’t enforce the cash ban.”

  Kara came into the room followed by one of her assistants. “Figured you all would like something to eat,” she said as the young man with her set down a tray of sandwiches on the table. The trio looked at Kara, then at her assistant. Sy gave her a sideways look, making it clear he didn’t want any outside ears in the room. She took the hint. “Billy,” she said with a smile, “go ahead and take your lunch break, will you?”

  When he was gone, Kara grabbed Sy’s arm. “What is it? What’s wrong?”

  “Probably nothing, Sis. I don’t know. These guys got me thinkin’ there might be a lot bigger problem goin’ on besides the electricity bein’ out.”

  Kara turned to JR, then to Darwin. “Well?”

  She stood silently as the men gave her the rundown of their discussion. After they made their point, they gave her time to think as she stood quietly.

  “Where’s your wife, JR?” she finally asked.

  The color drained from his face. “I…I’m…I’m not really sure,” he stammered. This is my week for Dad and me to go hunting every year. While I’m gone she usually goes somewhere with her friends. I’ve got it written down. Um, somewhere up in Michigan…let’s see, I think it was a winery tour.”

  No one said a word about it while JR lowered his head and sobbed. “I didn’t even think about it, about her. With Dad and everything else going on, I just didn’t even think…”

  “Trey was asking about her. Said he wanted to call her and let her know he was alright,” Kara said quietly.

  Darwin walked over and put his arm around JR. “Go be with your boy, mate. Let ‘em know it’s all gonna be okay, right? All this grand planning can keep a bit. You go give that little man of yours a hug.”

  JR gave him a nod and walked out. Kara didn’t follow.

  When he was out of earshot, she said to Darwin and Sy, “Ben told me something like this was going to happen.”

  Their confusion was apparent. She continued, “That’s why he was so adamant about getting his family out of the city. And that’s what this big get-together was for. Oh, and by the way, I think JR’s wife is with his mom. They’re in Michigan, all right, but they’re scouting a new place to live.”

  Sy shook his head. “Sis, what in the world are you talkin’ about?” he asked. “How do you know so much about what Ben’s thinkin’ and doin’?”

  “We talk…well, talked quite a bit. For the last couple of years especially. He was always telling me to make sure we were ready for a disaster. In fact, a lot of the equipment and supplies we’ve got stashed away here are his. I mean he gave them to us, but I always still considered them his.”

  Sy was mad now. “You been goin’ behind my back the whole time? Why didn’t he…no, why didn’t you,” he pointed a calloused finger at Kara, “tell me about this?”

  “Ben said it took a certain mindset to understand how we needed to be ready when times got bad. He said a mother was the best at grasping it,” she said. “Come on, Sy, did you really think we could afford to install a thirty-thousand-dollar generator on our own?”

  “Lot of good it’s doin’ us now,” he said spitefully.

  “Obviously something has happened outside of even Ben’s purview. But at least we’ve got enough food for two hundred people here on-site. That’s thanks to him,” she said.

  Darwin’s face was the opposite of Sy’s. “That old bugga, always something up his sleeve. Even when he got it wrong, he came out right.”

  He grabbed Sy's arm and gave it a firm shake. “Sy, my friend, quit yer sulkin’ and get a list of any reliable people livin’ local. In town, too. We gotta get them out here to the lodge for a meetin’. Straight away, mate, come on!” he pleaded.

  “You just told JR there was time for plannin’ later,” Sy said in huff. He was fed up with being confused all day, and he was irritated about being misled.

  Darwin still beamed. “Naw, I was just sayin’ that to let ‘em get his mind right. We gotta move now. Best we take the initiative.”

  Chapter 12

  Mt. Sterling, Illinois

  Day Two of the Great Reset

  Red Morton’s little two-truck convoy pulled up next to the fuel tanks of the FS Station like they had the day before. Jeremiah got a glimpse of their arrival and met them before the trucks were even stopped.

  “Hey, Red,” Jeremiah said in his typically friendly manner. He looked at Red’s truck and then at the one behind.

  “What’s with the second truck?” he asked.

  “Just figured I’d grab two days’ worth. Maybe save me a trip tomorrow,” Morton replied. “Is that okay?”

  Jeremiah wiped his greasy hands on a shop towel. He was deep in thought about something. Another moment and he wiped some sweat from his forehead, leaving a black streak across his skin. “I been limiting everyone to just a tankful. That’s my regular payin’ customers, too.” He kicked a rock. “Kinda took your advice yesterday.”

  “How’s that?”

  “Well, I figure if I’m not gettin’ any deliveries in, like you said, I better make sure what I got lasts.”

  Morton thought about arguing with him, then decided against it. “It’s okay, Jeremiah. No trouble, these guys were happy to get out and see the sun, anyway,” he said, pointing to the two men in the second truck.

  Together they filled the big tank in the bed of Morton’s truck, each man tanking a turn at the hand pump. After they were complete, Morton once again filled out the paperwork and signed for the purchase.

  “Any word yet?” Jeremiah asked.

  Morton fought the urge to gossip like a high-schooler. He liked Jeremiah, always liked his family too. He decided not to lie by not saying anything. He just shook his head.

  Morton could see the disappointment on Jeremiah’s face. All Jeremiah wanted to do was his job, go home and have a beer, play with his kids, watch some screen or cast a line, then hit the rack. Repeat the same thing tomorrow and every day until they buried him in the local cemetery. A perfectly ordinary life for a man perfectly content with such a notion. Disruptions like the last couple days were hard on such a man.

  “How about you?” Morton asked to lighten the tone.

  Jeremiah shook his head. “Just the regulars. Had a funny guy in here with the Bradshaws a little earlier. An Australian. He tried to buy up everything with a credit card.” Then he looked pained again. “Bad deal, though, they had a guest die out at the lodge overnight. Can’t find Sheriff Gray, I guess he went into Jacksonville to see if anyone there knew what was happening.”

  “Heard back from him yet?”

  “No. I figured he stopped at the prison to check in on you guys.”

  “I didn’t talk to him.” Morton smiled. “But I don’t get out much.”

  “Well you just keep those critters you got locked up behind them bars. Can’t imagine what you all go through each day, working with those types,” Jeremiah said. Morton thought he might have shivered a little when he said it.

  Morton started to climb in but Jeremiah stopped him. “Hey, Red, one more thing. What was them Army trucks doing at the Dot Foods warehouse earlier today?”

  Morton looked at McCoy in the front seat of his truck. He shrugged back at his questioning look. “I didn’t know anything about it. They must have been a
round back when we came by.”

  “Oh, okay. Well if you find out will you let me know? Folks here were hoping it was National Guard come to help out.”

  “Jeremiah, you know the closest National Guard post is in Springfield now. It’ll be a long time before they work their way out here. Don’t get your hopes up.”

  Morton and his men made their way back to the prison, glancing over at Dot Foods while driving past. There was no sign of any activity. But as they pulled back into the prison drive, four drab-colored trucks on six wheels each sat just outside the gates.

  Morton pulled the truck down the service driveway and to the generator’s fuel tank. He jumped out and started trotting toward the front office, leaving McCoy and the other two to unload.

  He stepped from the sunshine into the manmade lights, letting his eyes adjust to men in digital tan camouflage BDUs. Morton nearly choked; one of the soldiers looked exactly like his son in the last picture ever taken of him. He stopped and turned back around, breathing and coughing and sniffling all at the same time to hide sudden tears.

  Everyone turned to look at him: soldiers, Captain Lewis, and the warden herself. “Alright there, Sergeant Morton?” Lewis called out.

  “Yeah, yeah, I’m fine. Just got some diesel in my eyes. Terrible stuff,” Morton said while trying to wipe away the wetness on his face.

  He sucked up a breath and walked towards the group. The warden made a face, her look challenging his right to be included in the conversation. Lewis didn’t seem to mind, though, and Morton took his orders from him. She accepted it and turned back to the uniformed man closest to her.

  “So Lieutenant, you were saying?”

  “Yes, ma’am, our orders are to take you back to Jacksonville for a meeting.”

  “May I ask what kind of meeting?”