The End of America

by Pete Thorsen

  “Everyone listen up. We are taking over this place. Anyone who resists will be shot. Those of us you see are just a small part of our group and we have you totally surrounded. I urge you to slowly lay your guns down and step back from them right now. And I mean right now. We do not want to see any bloodshed. Lay your guns down right now and step back away from them now.”

  About then a young man stepped out with his pistol in his hand and told them they were outnumbered and if they were smart they should leave now. Many others were nodding their heads with the words and with many drawing their guns. The new comers did nothing and said nothing but then without warning or any sound I could hear, the young man who had spoke up, his head just about exploded with blood spraying all over as he fell down dead. Several women screamed and it looked like a couple of them fainted. After a minute or more again the leader spoke.

  “We asked for no violence but you forced our hand. Now will more of you have to die or will you comply?”

  You could hear murmurs throughout the crowd but no one made a move to shoot or to comply with laying down their guns. Then it looked like the leader was going to say something else when his head exploded just like the young man’s had a couple minutes ago.

  In another couple seconds another of the newcomer’s had their head explode. Then all hell broke loose. Most of the men from the market started blasting at the bad guys that had tried to take over. Some of the bad guys were shooting back but most were trying to run back to their trucks. I took a bead on one of those shooting back into the crowd and watched him crumple after I pulled the trigger.

  Working the action I found another but he fell before I could shoot again. By that time a couple of the bad guys had made it to the trucks and were starting to pull out. I did put a couple of shots into the cab of one of the trucks and so did about twenty other people it sounded like. Both trucks rolled to a stop and someone nearby yelled cease-fire. He yelled it twice before all the shooting stopped.

  It was quiet for a moment then you could hear crying and calls for a doctor from some of those in the crowd. A few of the men advanced on the bad guys trucks and a couple of shots rang out but our men looked fine so they must have been dispatching some still alive in the trucks.

  Amy and Flo got out of the pickup and ran to see if they could be of help to the wounded after they checked to see if I was OK. I admit I just leaned back against the pickup because my legs were shaking again. That is how Mac found me a couple minutes later when he came walking back up carrying a rifle and a fair sized backpack.

  “You OK? You look a little white.”

  “I’ll be OK. I had never shot anyone before.”

  “The girls OK?”

  “Yes they went to see about helping the wounded.”

  “I’ll check on them. You stay here and just take it easy. The first time you shoot someone is often pretty scary but you will be fine. I’ll be back in a couple minutes.”

  He put his new rifle and backpack in the cab then took my rifle to put in the cab also and then went to find the girls. I couldn’t really do anything. I was afraid to step away from the truck because I thought I would fall down. So I just stayed there leaning heavy against the pickup.

  Mac was back in just a bit and helped me get to the back of the pickup and sit on the end gate.

  “You are doing fine. It will pass. You did a good job protecting the girls and I thank you.”

  “You were the one who shot the leader and a couple of the bad guys?”

  “Yes. I’m sorry I was too late to save that young man. But the one who shot him paid a heavy price.”

  “How did you know?”

  “I saw a flash on the roof of that building over there. When I looked through the binoculars I saw a man with a rifle. The flash was the sun reflecting off the rifle scope I think. We were taught to watch for that in the military. I got there as fast as I could but I could not let him see me running. It had to look natural until I was out of his line of sight. Then it took a bit to find a way onto the roof.”

  “I didn’t hear a shot from there.”

  “I had my hunting knife with me and the rifle he had has a suppressor on it. What most people call a silencer.”

  “Who knows what those guys would have done if you were not here. People will be calling you a hero and rightfully so.”

  “We are just going to keep quiet about any role I might have played in this.”

  “If that’s the way you want it. But you saved a lot of people I’m thinking.”

  “You and the rest of these people are the hero’s. I was just gone for a walk.”

  “Thank you for saving us. I won’t say anything about your part of today. But Amy and Flo will know.”

  “Amy won’t say anything. I’m quite sure Flo will understand the value of silence. Just now when I saw them I asked them to keep quiet. They are mainly talking to those who had relatives shot to keep them calm. There happened to be a nurse here who is helping those hurt and an ambulance should be here pretty soon.”

  We just sat there on the end gate together. The ambulance came and soon left with several vehicles following it. Some likely transporting others who were not hurt so bad. The federal police showed up and after awhile they loaded all the dead bad guys. The police never even talked to us but did talk to several of the others.

  People said the pickups contained quite a bit of guns and loot. It was pretty obvious what the scoop was. I don’t think anyone thought there was a sniper anywhere because we never heard it mentioned. Things happened very fast and people don’t really see that much. Often people just use their imagination to fill in any blanks.

  When the police were gone we packed up and went on home. None of us talked about it on the way home or during the evening. No one mentioned the new rifle when Mac put it in the gun rack by the door. I did notice that Amy hugged Mac way more than normal and once Flo hugged him.

  Mac never had ever told us what he did when he was in the military. When asked he always said he was a pencil pusher because the military needed a lot of them. I think we all know he was way more than a pencil pusher. And I for one am very grateful to have him here with us.

  Maybe someday he will tell us more about that part of his life but that will always be his choice. We know he is a good man and that he loves our daughter so what he did or did not do while in the military does not matter to us. If he did things he wants to forget or just not talk about I can fully understand that. Sleep for me was a long time coming that night. When we went to bed Flo didn’t talk but just held me until she went to sleep. Listening to her sleep was the best therapy for me I think. Eventually I too slept.

  Chapter Thirteen

  The next day Mac went through the backpack he had gotten yesterday. He said much of the stuff could be very valuable to us but did not elaborate any. The rifle he had acquired was in 308 caliber same as the deer rifle he had purchased which I thought was a good thing. He called this ‘new’ one an AR10 which did not mean anything to me. He did say there was some extra ammunition in the pack for it.

  He had also gotten a pistol from the sniper which he said he would now give to Amy if she wanted to carry a pistol. It was a nine millimeter the same as the plastic one he always carried. This one he said was a Beretta. Later Mac and Amy went out away from the buildings some and we heard a few shots (which he warned us about before they left). When they returned Mac was wearing the ‘new’ pistol and Amy had the plastic one he had been carrying.

  The garden is doing fine and everything has been planted now. I dug through one of the sheds and found some fencing that we decided to put around the garden to try to keep at least most of the critters out. It would not keep out the deer because they can jump over just about anything but it was fine enough to keep out the rabbits and at least slow down the coons.

  I had plenty of steel fence posts that we drove in and we spent half a day making a good tight gate for us to use. The fence should help quite a bit. We went fishing again and
had better luck this time getting several fish, plenty for three or more meals.

  We still watch the news every night and I have to say I expected huge riots in the cities with half the cities burning but it never happened. Oh, there were riots alright but not to the extent I thought there would be. Some cities faired worse than others and sections of some cities did burn but I think people got it through their heads finally that there just was no money and they could riot but it would gain them nothing.

  In some of the worst places the federal police were brutal after the riots continued. They killed many rioters. And I do mean many. But I have to say I have mixed feelings on this. It is a simple fact that sometimes force is necessary and sometimes it has to be extreme force. I do not like the fact that our federal government was killing American citizens but on the other hand no one was ‘making’ them riot.

  It was just a bad deal all around. Maybe the show of extreme force stopped the riots or maybe they just lost steam when they found it got them nothing but pain but the riots did gradually come to a stop.

  In some of the big cities those people who were now receiving the food were being put to work just like the government said they would do. The feds were using these people to help clean up the cities after the riots. Some of those that got food were being used as baby sitters in fairly large make shift daycare centers for those that had to go work on the clean up.

  The strong were put to work and the weak were used as baby sitters. There were many other jobs also. The jobs varied daily and varied a lot from place to place. Many people who had gotten food had not been called to work yet at all. I think it depended on where there was work that needed to be done.

  If this work for food program continued on this vein none of us had a problem with it. We all had a tough time trusting our government and wondered what was to come. Even if everything was totally on the up-and-up it would a very long time before many of us would trust the government again, if ever.

  There were still many reports of all the violence going on throughout the nation. Many were trying to take advantage of the bad situation we all found ourselves in. There were some things reported similar to the attempted take-over that happened in our small town.

  Sometimes many people were killed, raped, beaten, and robbed. The federal police were doing what they could but they could not be everywhere. They also did not waste the fuel for lots of patrols. Many communities were banding together to protect themselves again very similar to what had just happened in our small town.

  I personally think there is some good coming out of all this. People are being forced to take responsibility for themselves and not depend on the government or anyone else. Everywhere in the nation people were planting gardens and the government, the television, and radio shows were telling everyone to plant gardens. They were again being called ‘victory gardens’.

  It takes a little getting used to seeing everyone packing guns all the time. It is hard to think of our little Amy as a baby anymore when we see her with that full sized pistol on her hip everyday. But again it is all about taking responsibility for your own security. I carry my old revolver all the time and for the first while I was very self-conscious about it but now I forget that I even have it on. No different than putting on my pants in the morning.

  It seems many states had done the same as Minnesota and eased restrictions on citizens carrying guns. Then on one of their ‘special bulletins’ the feds announced that Congress had passed and the President had signed a law that was about the same as Minnesota’s new firearm law.

  They called it the ‘Constitutional Carry Law’ and you could carry a gun openly or concealed throughout the whole country now for your personal protection. This did ease our fears about the government coming to take all of our guns (I still don’t trust them though).

  Then there was another special bulletin.

  “Fellow Americans we know that most of you are now unemployed and many have had to take part in the federal Food Distributions. Some of you have also been called in to work off the debt you have incurred for this food. We believe that most of you have found this to be done fairly. We are now going to expand this program. Without employment many have been unable to pay their monthly electric bill so your government has decided to pay the electric bills for those that are unable to do so. It will be done just like the food distribution and you will go to the Food Distribution Centers to apply for this aid.

  Again this will not be free but will be like a loan that you will have to pay back to the government either with currency or with labor. This program will start out as only a test to see if it is feasible for both parties. It will last a minimum of three months. If it works it will continue and it might be expanded in the winter to include home heating fuel.

  This will begin immediately so if you need assistance with your electric bill you can go to your closest Food Distribution Center and sign up for this program. This is completely a voluntary program, so sign up if you want but know if you do sign up and receive assistance you will be required to pay with either money or labor. Again this is a test program that might or might not continue. Thank you.”

  We talked some about this new program but again it seemed fair. It was not just a free give away but would definitely help many people who needed it. It helped those that needed the assistance but did not hurt those that did not need to use the program through higher taxes.

  After the big shootout in town on that bad Saturday we skipped two Saturday’s before we went back. And we were all very well armed when we went to town. I think many others maybe skipped the last two Saturday’s also because at first people seemed a little apprehensive but gradually things moved back on a more normal note. After some urging several started playing instruments and a girl started singing. Actually they made a pretty good team and the girl was quite good.

  I think this was what everyone needed and there were soon many smiles. We made a couple trades but there was very little that we wanted or needed. The trip was not a waste because we all enjoyed our time there. On the way back home I stopped and filled the gas tank on the pickup.

  I was surprised that gas was the same price as it was close to a month ago. I guess maybe it had reached its peak or maybe so few people were buying gas that the station had not had any more delivered so he was still at the same price. Only time would tell what the gas price would do next.

  We had all talked to different people at the market and one good thing was that most thought that the dog problem was done with. It seems that almost everyone had shot some dogs but it had been a couple weeks since anybody had seen any now. So everyone was hoping they were all dead for good.

  People were talking about what the government would or should do next and talking about what they saw on the news. Most had no real feelings about the military round up of all the illegal aliens, it was just something that had to be done and there was no good way to do it. Though most said it would have been much better just to have sealed our borders twenty or more years ago.

  Many thought the government’s food for work program was a good idea and so far no one seemed to have any issues with it, other than that chip business. Those chips were still a sore spot for most people. It just seemed somehow; wrong to put those chips in people.

  By this time many people living in our small town had been chipped because they had to go get some of the government’s handout food or the utility bill assistance and many had to get both. The chips had not harmed anyone or turned them into zombies or anything but no one liked even the thought of them. A few thought the chips were a good idea because it would cut down on any fraud from people using fake identification or multiple identifications or using someone else’s identification. While it was hard to argue that point the chips still seemed evil.

  The garden is producing well now so we are enjoying having fresh food from our garden that we grew ourselves. The girls have canned a bunch of things already and it looks like a lot more will be canned soon. />
  Mac and I still go fishing at least once or more every week but we plan it when the girls have work to do in the house so they are inside while we are gone though they did come with us few days just for the outing. We have also installed some of the old fashioned brackets on the door frames of the house so we can bar the doors with a short piece of two by four lumber. This makes the house much more secure at least while we are inside.

  The summer is just about over and I have found that I like retired life. Not going to work is just fine by me. Working in the garden or walking down to the river to go fishing makes for a mighty fine day.

  Mac went out with a can of spray paint and marked a few trees that are dead and we will cut down and then cut up for firewood this fall. We have to mark them now when we can easily see that they are dead because in the fall when all the trees loose their leaves it is harder to tell the dead ones from the live ones.

  We will wait for cool fall weather before we cut them down. I’m sure we will not need the wood this winter because we already have plenty but it will be a head start on the next winter’s wood supply.

  Some of the younger people have been shipped off to work in different areas of the country where they need help. Moving workers around has been going on all summer. Many were needed to work in the fields picking produce that was once done by mostly the illegals.

  But we have plenty of American workers now. It was all volunteer type work. The government did not force any to go to where they were needed but many volunteered for the jobs. Because the jobs were away from home both food and lodging were provided for the workers. Also after they worked off their ‘debt’ for food that they had already received they could get either credit on their accounts or receive normal payment in dollars. Some chose the credit because it could not be lost or stolen.