The End of America

by Pete Thorsen

  “OK let’s eat a sandwich and let me think about it. Have you talked to Ava?”

  “Yes she is leaving in the morning with or without Pat.”

  “OK I’ll eat and think on it.”

  Mac knew he had nothing to think about because he had no choice in the matter. He could not live without Amy and there was a chance she was right. As they said in college – road trip!

  They packed and repacked Mac’s car because it was bigger than Amy’s. They talked about taking both cars but at the price of gas it would hundreds of dollars and if they took one car they could drive straight through by switching drivers. They left all their dress clothes behind because if things were so bad they could not come back then they would not need to dress up.

  The car was packed tight but they thought they had brought at least the essentials with. Early in the morning they left LA and headed for Minnesota about two thousand miles away. Around ten in the morning Amy called Ava to see how far she was on her trip.

  “Hi, how far are you on your trip?”

  “I’m at work.”

  “What! You promised you would leave this morning.”

  “Pat talked me into staying today and tomorrow and leaving Friday after work or Saturday morning early.”

  “Please Ava, I have a bad feeling about this. Leave tonight as soon as you get everything packed in the car. Saturday may be too late.”

  “I’ll see if I can talk Pat into it. Today is normal or at least the new normal. If any violence starts we will leave right away but otherwise I think another day won’t matter.”

  “I sure hope you’re right. But I’ll tell you that I will be worried sick about you until I see your face in Minnesota.”

  “We’ll be fine and I’ll see you Saturday or Sunday at the latest.”

  “You better! “

  “I gotta get back to work. Talk to you soon.”

  “Bye”

  “Ava and Pat are still working and will not leave until Friday night or Saturday morning. I got a bad feeling about this. I sure hope they don’t run into trouble.”

  “I’m sure they will be fine. If it gets hairy at all I’m sure they will leave right away. And they have to go only about half the distance we do.”

  “I’m not worried about us. Most of our route is in the middle of nowhere out west. They are in the thick of it back east.”

  “Once they get on the interstate they should be fine. No matter what Rule of Law won’t break down that fast.”

  “What you say makes sense but I’m still worried. The next time we stop for gas Ill drive. I’m way to wound up to get any rest.”

  With their early start they got through Las Vegas before lunch and it was the only big city they had to go through on their whole trip. After Las Vegas at their next fill up Amy noticed a hand made sign in the convenience store that said ‘No EBT cards today’. Amy stopped to ask if they usually took EBT cards. The clerk said yes but since noon they all came back denied. So there must be something wrong with the system. Credit cards were still working though.

  Now Amy was really worried about Ava. Atlanta had a larger than normal amount of people on food stamps and now if those cards were not no working there too it would not be long before there was violence. She called Ava.

  “Ava the food stamp cards are not working out here anymore. If that happens in Atlanta it won’t take long before there is violence.”

  “They already quit working here too. I will try to get Pat to leave tonight. All though another twenty four hours will not likely make any difference.”

  “The difference could be your life! Don’t wait, please. Leave tonight while it is still safe. The money you make tomorrow will do neither you nor Pat any good if you are both dead. Leave tonight.”

  “You’re right, it will go downhill fast if those cards don’t work anymore. I will try my best to convince him to leave tonight.”

  “Leave, even if you have to leave alone.”

  “OK. I gotta go.”

  “OK but leave tonight. Bye”

  Amy was even more worried now. When it got dark Mac almost had to force Amy to let him drive. He had dozed off and on all day and was fully awake and ready to drive. He tried to get her to rest and finally she at least pretended to do so. Mac was something of a night owl and enjoyed driving so he drove all through the night.

  He thought that Amy actually did sleep some though she did not look too good when they stopped for fuel and breakfast just after getting in South Dakota. Mac told Amy he was totally capable of driving the remaining distance but even though Amy did not doubt that she said she would drive for awhile at least. Their trip was uneventful so far and there were hardly any cars on the highways with gas so high. Amy drove across most of South Dakota and after lunch allowed Mac to take over again.

  Their credit cards still worked and they used the card for everything, saving their cash. They stopped in Amy’s home town and filled the car for the last time before arriving out at the farm. The relief and happiness was plain on Flo’s face when she came out to greet them. Gil was at work but Flo did call him to let him know that they had arrived safe and sound.

  Mac realized how worried Flo had been when she thanked him a half a dozen times for getting her daughter back home safe. Amy and Flo were hugging most of the time amongst happy tears. After Flo showed Mac which room they would be using he spent a lot of time bringing in their clothes and such.

  They had also brought all the food they had in their house and he carried in what had to be kept from freezing. What they had in their freezer they had given to a grateful neighbor. By the time Mac was done unloading Gil came home.

  Chapter Eight

  Even though I was anxious to see Mac and Amy I stopped and filled the gas tank again on the car. The price was crazy and went up some daily. I can’t imagine how much it cost the kids to drive all the way from California. I am so grateful they came and made it safely. Now if Ava and Pat show up we can face what ever is coming together.

  Flo and Amy had supper ready by the time I got home and it was so good to see her. And Mac too. I had trusted Mac the first time I had met him. I could tell that he thought the world of Amy and I knew that he would do absolutely anything to keep her safe and happy. What more could a dad ask for?

  It wasn’t quite as festive as I had thought it should be with us together. Amy was subdued and freely admitted that she was very worried about Ava. Even for twins the girls had been very close. And they would actually finish a sentence for the other. But it was so nice to be together and we talked well into the night. Finally fatigue took over and we went to our beds. Once I thought I heard Amy cry out during the night but I was more than half asleep and drifted off again.

  In the morning Flo and I were getting some breakfast together when a rather haggard Mac walked into the kitchen. One look and it was obvious something serious was wrong.

  “Amy is convinced that Ava died last night. She’s been crying for several hours now.”

  Flo flew out of the kitchen and went to Amy. I poured Mac a cup of black coffee that I could see he needed. I got another cup myself before I asked the question.

  “Do you believe her?”

  “You how those two were together. Sometimes Amy would walk towards the phone to answer it before it even rang when it was Ava calling. Yes I do believe her. I’m sorry.”

  “I do know how they were. I want to have hope but I believe also that Amy would know.”

  It was an awful day. Amy and Flo cried most of the day. None of us doubted what Amy said. It had been Amy that cried out and woke me last night. Mac said they were both sleeping when Amy screamed.

  At first he thought she just had a bad nightmare but when she told him what made her scream he believed her immediately. We tried many times to call Ava’s and Pat’s phones with no results. The stress of the day exhausted all of us and at least forced us to sleep.

  Sunday I got everyone to clean up some and we went to church together. We had been
members of the church basically forever but were infrequent attendees. At church amongst our many friends it was obvious to all there that we had a suffered a loss. The Minister talked to us before the service and the group as a whole prayed with us.

  Whatever the Minister had planned to use as sermon he changed and instead talked about the loss of loved ones. I believe he was trying to get everyone there prepared for what was likely ahead for all of us. We had just been the first to lose someone before their time during these troubled times and I think everyone in the church realized that fact.

  I think that drew all of us together a little closer. By the time we left the church I think we had all healed some. It will take a long time but I think the healing has started for all of us. Even Amy was looking a little better by the time we left.

  Flo and I made supper and we all ate a real meal instead of just picking at our food like we had been. I welcomed the chance to go to work in the morning to get a bit of normal back into my life.

  In the morning Mac was up and we had breakfast together. So I asked him some questions.

  “So I know you are on the internet all the time so you must know what is going on. Could you tell me?”

  “I was on the internet a lot but the government has closed it almost totally down. What is left is sanitized just like the news shows. Before they closed most of it down I did see a couple things. World markets were crashing just like the US markets and they had a two day head start because ours were closed those two days that banks were closed due to the supposed cyber attack.

  Also I looked at the spot index price for the US dollar which had normally been in the seventy’s and it was in the thirty’s and still going down. So you were right the dollar crashed and the world economies crashed. Things here are mostly normal only because of the complete news freeze. That can hold only so long. And now that the food stamp cards quit working there will be riots in many of the bigger cities unless they get them up and running again very soon.”

  “The USA must be completely cut off from imports and exports by now. That is why gas is going up so much. With the higher oil production in the United States thanks to the big oil fields in North Dakota using just domestic oil we will likely be able to get by now. I’m sure gas consumption must be way, way less than it had been due to the higher prices.

  I would think we could now produce enough on our own to cover our reduced oil use now. And in the summer months we can produce plenty of food to feed everyone in the states. Maybe things will hold together and will not get any worse.”

  “I think that is rather wishful thinking. We still have massive unemployment and with the doubling then redoubling of the gas prices many people will not be able to afford to drive to work. With the huge fuel price increase food prices will have to go up dramatically putting more burdens on low wage earners and food stamp recipients.

  And where is the government going to get the money for all the entitlements? Look at all the people that are on unemployment, welfare, food stamps, section eight housing, Medicaid, Medicare, Social Security, disability, government pensions, the list is almost endless.”

  “The future doesn’t look too good does it?”

  “That’s why we came here to ride it out. I’ll drive to town today and buy more food and other items we will need now that we are here with you.”

  “We have already stocked way up on food.”

  “I’ll buy more while I can. Plus I’ll get Amy and me some heavy work clothes and heavy winter clothes for next winter.”

  “You don’t think things will be better by next winter?”

  “No I think it will be much worse by then not better.”

  “OK we can always find room to stack more food and we will certainly eat it at some point. Do you know how to fish?”

  “I fished a lot growing up. That’s a good idea I’ll get some fishing gear also.”

  “Take the women with you. They need to get out of the house and Flo knows what food we have on hand now. Feel free to take the pickup if you want to. I better get to work. See you tonight.”

  “I’ll see to it that we all stay busy today”

  I admit I tried to avoid everyone at work today. I did maintenance in the furnace room and cleaned up the shop area and pretty much kept to myself. Not that it was all that uncommon for me to do that.

  I wondered what would happen to all the old folks here at the nursing home if things really went to pot. My guess was that they would all die. I wondered about a lot of things. If gas kept going up how much longer would it be before it did not make sense for me to drive in to work?

  I see what Mac was talking about. If you lived much distance from your job the high gas prices were a big problem. Shipping charges must be jumping much higher also and they would affect everything. Mac is right it is going to all crumble and fall apart.

  Though I don’t agree with the government stopping the news and keeping us all in the dark they are buying us some time with this tactic. And actually quite a bit of time, granted the people are grumbling about it but really things are pretty normal.

  So now I’m wondering if they are making good use of this time. What are they doing? I’ll have to talk to Mac about this tonight. Maybe we can brainstorm a little bit. All this technology and the government can just shut it off when they feel like it and leave all the citizens in the dark. So no one has a smart phone anymore, not that I really ever understood what exactly a smart phone was. Well its quitting time, maybe everyone else had a more interesting day than I did.

  Everyone was in a better mood when I got home and told me about their day’s adventure during supper.

  “The grocery store had a lot of empty spaces on the shelves and it wasn’t just the fresh produce. There were a lot of shoppers for a Monday. I think many people are stocking up just like we are. We still found a lot to buy and got a big load of groceries.”

  “I bought a bunch of work clothes and after I convinced Amy that there were no such things as ‘designer work clothes’ she got some too.”

  “Very funny. We each got some heavy shoes also. Plus there were end of season sales on the winter clothes so we each got some. Plus winter boots that were on sale too. We took your truck and it was a good thing we did because all of it would never have fit in the car.”

  “And we put everything on our credit card while it was still working. I don’t think things will hold together long enough for them to even bill us for the stuff. We also stopped at the DMV and switched our driver’s licenses over to Minnesota licenses. Then stopped at the post office and set it up to have our mail delivered here, something we should have done before we left LA.”

  “I was wondering if the government was forcing the banks to keep the credit cards working. I did a lot of wondering about stuff today.”

  “You know that makes sense that maybe the government is forcing them to keep the credit cards working. As long as the cards work it is normal and life as we know it goes on.”

  “Another thing I was wondering about is what is the government up to? They are keeping us all in the dark and keeping the situation as normal as possible for a while longer. So in a sense they are just buying time.

  They know it will fall apart soon but are buying time right now. So my question is what are they doing with this borrowed time? Are they up to something? Is it something good or something evil?”

  “Well they have shown us that the Constitution and all the laws mean very little to them. They are doing whatever they want. I see what you mean about this borrowed time. Are they spending this time trying to save us or just save themselves.”

  “I question if it all ties in with the feds taking over all the law enforcement from the police and Sheriffs.”

  “I assume they did know this was coming for some time. If it is tied in with the law enforcement it makes me think they are planning for Martial Law.”

  “That is what I was wondering but I did not want to mention it first. I’ve spent the day wondering ab
out a lot of stuff. And I was thinking if I was evil and was going to declare Martial Law how and when I would do that.”

  “Does it make any difference when they do it?”

  “Yes I think it might. Let’s say the President declared Martial Law tonight. Many people would be outraged and take up arms against the government.”

  “I would say that is true. Many would submit but many would fight also.”

  “But let’s say that instead they turned on all communications and news again. And let people see how bad everything is. They let the banks shut down the credit cards if they wanted to also. They let the food stamp cards run out. They announced that the USA was broke and all entitlements would either stop entirely or be severely reduced in size.

  That at least for awhile there would be no trade with other counties. All the people working in imports would be out of work and a lot of truckers would be out of work and there would be no unemployment for them or anyone else. Many food products would be in short supply or just gone. Government services would mostly halt.”

  “Many people would riot. Many people would have to steal just to survive. There would be chaos in all the cities and even in some smaller towns.”

  “Exactly and people would die. It would be impossible to keep law and order. Theft and robbery would skyrocket. Violent crime would run rampant. Delivery trucks would be stolen or stopped and looted. Stores would be looted.”

  “I see where you are going I think. Total lawlessness and the old or weak would be the first to die. Soon everyone would beg the government to bring in the military to bring back law and order. And we would then have martial law but at the request of the people.”

  “And if they waited a while and let violence run its course for some time many of the weak would be dead. And what would be left would be the strong; the hard workers. There would be no disability payments because those people would be dead. There would be very little Medicare because those people would be dead.

  Then government could come in and kill the trouble makers and the rest would be there to serve them, their savior. They would have a strong and willing work force to rebuild the nation and the Constitution would just be an antique piece of paper with no meaning.”