by Pete Thorsen
He had carried a sleeping bag but soon left it behind. He stayed in vacant houses every night and there were always beds with bedding so he did not need the sleeping bag. He did carry a change of clothes and several extra socks and underwear.
Most of the weight in the pack was food and drinks. He actually found more soda than plain water but that contained calories which helped him keep going. He still had no plan of where he was going or what he would do but the urge to ‘get away’ was strong.
Chapter Twenty Four
Joe told the other three guys everything he saw and heard on his recon mission. They talked at length about what they could and should do. While obviously the safest thing would be remain in hiding, which was dismissed early on during their discussions. All four wanted to fight for their country like all of them had done in the past. But none wanted to just throw their lives away on a worthless kamikaze mission that served no purpose.
They needed much heavier weapons like the military had and that was where they would have to get them from. They needed better intelligence and then needed a plan. They decided they would go close to town and occupy an empty house as a temporary base.
The Army had emptied the houses once and would be very unlikely to re-check them. They decided on taking two vehicles with Joe’s cycle on the carrier behind one of them. They loaded down with a lot of water and a week’s worth of food. They made a path through the rock slide and brushed out their tracks well to lead no one to their hideout.
They met no one on the road to town. They expected to meet no patrols because this area had already been ‘pacified’. They found a likely house well off the main road to setup as their ‘forward operating base’. They were only about two miles out of town and Joe, who was the hiker of the group volunteered to try to sneak into town and see if there was any thing to see.
He was dressed in camouflage and after some debate decided to not carry a rifle just a handgun. This was just another recon mission and if he needed the rifle he was in deep trouble anyway that the rifle would not get him out of. He did carry a daypack with food and water and his binoculars.
Joe figured about a five or six mile round trip and he wanted to get back before full dark. It should be an easy walk like he had done many times since moving out here.
Special Insert
The First Lieutenant who was operating the drone was not doing much at the moment. The drone was just doing figure eights at altitude and keeping watch on the suspected terrorists he had spotted earlier. The Lieutenant was awaiting further orders which he guessed would be a missile strike due to the fact he could see no assets anywhere close to this location. Either a strike or just surveillance until assets could be moved into the area.
But he knew a strike would be easier and not disrupt any patrols. About a half hour later he got the expected strike order. Wait until all terrorists were together when one missile would complete the mission. The Lieutenant waited until the one terrorist had rejoined the others in the house and he sent a single Hellfire missile into the center of the building. Further surveillance showed no survivors, the Lieutenant then continued his search mission and got back on the search grid.
Joe, Gus, Pete, and Sam never saw the drone or even suspected that one was far above them. One minute they were alive and making plans and the next they were all dead.
Chapter Twenty Five
Emily was upstairs on watch when she saw the white SUV’s at one of the neighbor’s houses. She went downstairs and told the others that it was time. Hal was playing in the kitchen and Ann just left him there because it was in the back of the house and as safe as a spot as anywhere inside. The four adults took up their rifles and got into the assigned positions and then just waited.
“Safeties on. We don’t want an accidental shot to ruin everything. We will not fire unless there is no other option.”
They all watched and waited. After awhile the SUV’s came to the end of the cul-de-sac and slowed but the first three continued the circle and drove away along with the two U-haul trucks that were with the group. The last SUV stopped and a single person got out and walked around the burned out car and headed for the house.
When the man stepped on one of the nail boards and everyone heard the cussing and the uniformed man angrily threw the board down after pulling it off his foot. He continued cussing as he limped back to the waiting SUV. No one was sure but they all thought they heard laughing coming from the SUV when the limping man opened the door to get inside. After a minute the white SUV left the area.
“Well Ike you ruined our house and wrecked our car but you might have just saved all our lives. Thank you.”
“Just let me know if you want anything else burnt up.”
“It does look like we dodged the bullet this time. I just hope our luck holds.”
“I think at some point we might have to go on offence. But for now we seem to be safe.”
They all breathed a sigh of relief that their subterfuge worked. Every one of them knew it was just a temporary reprieve but they were very thankful just the same. Even though they listened a couple times a day there were no more ‘emergency’ radio broadcasts. The power flicked off one day and did not come back on by the next day. They all agreed it was likely due to the fact that Homeland Security had cleaned out this section of the grid and now it could be shut down to save power.
They knew they would have to be careful now not to show a light at night but also wondered if they did if anyone would see it. Everything that could hold any water just about anywhere in the house was already full of water so they had enough for quite awhile. They had set up the kids pools that Ron had bought at the urging of his father and they were also full of water.
Ron and Ike took turns now going out on hikes in ever increasing circles around the house. Neither one thought there was anyone left within five miles of the house anymore. They never saw any sign of patrols at all.
They would now be left alone but also be left totally cut off from any other part of society. Once they were sure they were alone they started doing their own searches of all the houses in an ever increasing area. They carried note books and kept track of items in each house that they went through and the address. They would stay where they were for now but they would be moving at some point in the future to live near a permanent water supply.
Both families had bought a lot of garden seeds and if they found a place with a water supply they would plant a garden in the spring. In the mean time they hauled all the propane tanks they found that were full or even half full back to the house. The propane they could use for cooking, heating water, and staying warm over winter.
They did find some food that the DHS had missed and many things that the government had not been looking for like candles, oil lamps, matches, and cigarette lighters. Ron and Ike traveled together now all the time. They each carried a rifle with one always having a twenty two rifle as they often saw rabbits to have for supper.
The twenty two was also useful to kill any cats that they saw. They also killed any dogs that they saw but often used a bigger rifle for that job. Often deer were seen or their tracks. But until it got cold enough to freeze the meat they did not shoot any because so much would now go to waste.
Water would be a problem even with all they had saved at the house. They used it for drinking/cooking, washing, and flushing. It was quite heavy to haul and they were all very reluctant to use one of the vehicles. There were plenty of houses in the nearby area and most all of them had water heaters that were still full of clean water.
Two of the neighbors had swimming pools that they could get water from that would be good for flushing or drinking if it was filtered and boiled. The main problem would be in the winter as it might get cold enough to freeze any water that was in the un-heated houses.
They had already put large tote boxes under the downspouts at Ron’s house and at the closest neighbor’s house to catch rainwater. They had always taken water for granted but now that they
were hauling water they saw first hand how much they used and just how precious that water was.
Even though they saw no more Homeland Security vehicles they kept the two trucks backed up next to the backside of the house and loaded ready to take-off at a moments notice. They started each rig a couple times every week to make sure there would be no problems if they had to take off fast.
With routes planned they would try to make a run of twenty to fifty miles to a little more rural area to again hide out in. With the likely unknown back exit from the cul-de-sac they thought they might have a chance at escape if the need did arise. In the mean time they did not drive any vehicle so any air patrols that might go over would not see a moving vehicle and give them away.
Chapter Twenty Six
The men (and one woman) all rose from their seats when the President came into the room. There was the noise of some paper shuffling in the room but it was just nervousness from those present. The President wasted no time and started things rolling right away.
“Thank you all for coming. Let’s get down to brass tacks and see where we stand both inside and outside the country. Jack (CIA) anybody worldwide that is planning anything dangerous against us?”
“No sir. Every country is fighting their own demons right now. A couple small countries are having border clashes but that is about normal and will have no effect on us or anyone else. The nuclear countries are being very careful to keep all their nukes under very substantial security. I believe we are safer today than at anytime in the last sixty years.”
“General anything to add about the worldwide situation?”
“Nothing to add sir. I am in complete agreement with Jack no worries.”
“OK so how about on the home front?”
“The pacification process in our sectors is proceeding at an acceptable speed. We did have to increase patrols on the southern border in the beginning but when those trying to enter our country came against the full power of the US military and saw we did not shoot blanks it stopped very quickly. The southern border actually is secure now.”
“How about the deportation of illegals? We don’t need them to vote anymore and I want them all gone.”
“We are deporting some in the southwest area but when they are found where we think it is too far to bother deporting them they are just dispatched on site.”
“That’s acceptable and good thinking saving our internal resources. Now I want a straight answer - are the military and DHS working OK together? I know you guys have the country cut up into many sectors but I want no friction between the two departments.”
“I can honestly say that as far as I can tell there is no friction at all and we coordinate together on a daily basis. Ken (DHS) do you agree?”
“I and my agents have worked closely with the military since the beginning. We share assets constantly and have shifted the borders of several sectors to make better use of our individual forces.”
“That is exactly what I wanted to hear. Ken, how is the progress of food distribution and power distribution?”
“As per the plan when we are finished with some areas the power grid is shut off in that area if it is feasible to do so. In isolated cases we have put generators in key spots for food production or manufacturing facilities if it was not productive to keep the power grid active in those areas.
The Temporary Security Centers are working out well doing cleanup or providing a temporary work force. It actually looks like we will have a fairly large surplus of food that we could use for export or to stockpile. Some logistics have to be worked out yet but I think we will have minimal losses of food stuffs.
On the power front we have shut down all the coal fired generating plants at this time because they are too labor intensive to keep running. With the huge drop in electric power needs we will be able to shut down some gas fired plants also.”
“General, are you meeting much armed resistance from the population?”
“In certain pockets we have had some resistance but we have used armored vehicles very effectively and occasional air power. Our losses have been very minimal. Letting things just work themselves out for a few weeks was a big help and at the same time allowed us the time necessary to move assets into necessary positions.
In most cases after we have pacified an area we just move on to the next area though we leave drones to keep watch for awhile to spot those we missed. In isolated areas we occasionally will use a drone strike but most often we have ground assets close enough to send them in. The drones are a huge help and it was wise indeed to beef up production early on so we have plenty now to use.”
“We have moved the civilian work forces to the areas where they will be needed?”
“It is an on-going process and will continue to be so in many areas. We will move them as needed to where there is work to be done.”
“The chips are working out and we are not encountering any problems?”
“Yes and no. They are working good though we did find a flaw with the first generation ones that were negatively affected by strong magnetic fields but the second generation ones we are now using have overcome that problem. The newer ones are also more powerful and can be tracked by much higher altitude drones now.”
“Anything else anyone needs to go over? If not we can all get back to work.”
Chapter Twenty Seven
Jason was finding plenty to keep him going. He still did not know where he was going to but he did know he wanted to be much farther south when winter came. He knew very well how awful winters were in Chicago when everything was still working and he did not want to try it now with no power or anything. He could easily use a car or a truck but knew that would draw unwanted attention to him. So he would just walk, south, always south.
Jason was rather surprised that he saw no other people at all. He assumed that the military had rounded everyone up but Jason sure thought that many would have evaded the round-up and would still be in the area. He had heard some of the troopers talking about other work camps and having to move so many people around to the camps.
Apparently in some or most of the camps the women workers could be used by the troopers. Jason had no idea where the camps were or how many there were and it sounded like some of the camps or at least the workers in them got moved every so often.
Jason thought if there was a situation where he could safely snatch a trooper he would take it so he could get more first hand information. He knew the likelihood of having that opportunity was slim but he would keep it mind just the same.
He had almost never seen any troopers out by themselves. Instead they were always in groups, sometimes only two but way more often the group was five or six and even sometimes more. Still he would watch for a chance to grab a single trooper if at all possible in the future.
It had been several days since he had seen any troopers at all and that had been at quite a distance (luckily) when he saw a small convoy on a highway maybe a half mile away.
Chapter Twenty Eight
“How is the clean up going?”
“We are just about done with sector twenty three and will be moving into sector twenty four tomorrow or the day after at the latest.”
“Are you taking prisoners?”
“We are trying to move fast through the areas and so are not taking any prisoners at this stage.”
“What are you using for assets?”
“We have one MRAP, three trucks and five of our standard SUV’s in this sector that are coordinating using feed from two drones.”
“How many hits in sector twenty four?”
“The drones have found eleven positive stationary targets, twenty three possible stationary targets, and seventeen mobile targets.”
“Have you had any problems?”
“Nothing can do any damage to the MRAP and we use that to go in with and the trucks and SUV’s are only used for containment so none escape. They have done it so many times now that they have it down pretty well.
For being non-military I believe they are doing a very good job. A couple times there have been escapes through areas we thought were impassible but they were easily tracked by the drone and were terminated at the second location each time. They now look more carefully for exit routes. Every engagement seems to be going smoother than the last.”
“Very well done. Keep up the good work.”
Chapter Twenty Nine
Ike and Ron ran into the house with Ron continuing out the back door to start the two trucks while Ike got everyone else moving.
“We have to run NOW. Homeland Security is almost here and they have an armored truck of some kind they are using. Ron has the trucks running. Let’s move now.”
The women asked no questions just grabbed their rifles and Ann carried Hal and out the back door they ran. They had talked about it and practiced several times and it went very smooth and quick.
They were in the trucks and on the move out the hidden back way in just over a minute but they didn’t stand a chance. As they cleared the little ridge and approached the street on the back side there were two white Homeland SUV’s and a truck blocking their way out. The two riding shotgun never even had a chance to raise their rifles as the Homeland Security agents opened up on the two trucks with both full-auto and semi-auto rifle fire. It lasted less than a minute and everyone in the two escaping trucks were dead and the trucks rolled to a stop.
Chapter Thirty
