The End of America

by Pete Thorsen

  We got home to welcoming hugs and unloaded our big load. Again we waited until the next day to sort and put away of our treasure. That evening we talked about our long term plans and needs. It was a long talk and the more we talked the more we stuff we thought about that we would need in the future. The list of items was almost endless.

  It took little time to decide that we would have to continue our scavenging runs and decided to always take a trailer with us to increase our load capacity. Ann said we should use some of the covered trailers that we found at some of the houses. They could then be used as storage sheds when we brought them home.

  Bill said if we found a couple of travel trailers or motor homes that we could get running we could station them at strategic spots for future use when we would be walking. We would then have dry comfortable spots to stay and could put a couple extra propane tanks in each to make cooking easy. We had found many oil lamps with oil and could leave one of them in each also or at least a couple candles.

  We also decided to build an outhouse for current and later use. At some point we would run out of toilet paper and would need to use the outhouse. The ladies suggested that we guys could start using it right away to save on the toilet paper.

  We should also be bringing back sturdy clothes, shoes, and gloves for each of us. Along with bedding and towels and such as everything would only last so long. We should bring home all the soap we found, extra work clothes; the list was never ending of what we would need.

  We talked about cutting more wood now when we had the pickups to haul it back to the house. We also said we should maybe haul any cut firewood we found on our trips back home because it would be safer and faster than cutting our own. We had each found a small amount of gas on our trips and had added it to our tanks.

  We decided to check each vehicle we came across to see if we could siphon out any fuel. Solar panels could be brought back if we found any. And we all said bring back all the books we found and it did not matter what they were about.

  Val said we should also bring back supplies for kids like baby stuff, kid’s clothes/shoes, toys, and school books. At first we all just looked at her but she said “No I am not pregnant but we have two fertile women of child bearing age here and we should be prepared if it happened.” None of us could argue with that statement.

  The lists went on and on. We said we would continue the scavenger runs until our gas was mostly gone. Val said her car’s gas tank could be drained and I suggested that we then park it over at the ‘nearby’ vacant house because this area would be getting filled up.

  We also decided that we would also park the other rigs over there as they got ‘used up’ and just have one truck to remain here finally. So we did continue the runs and took turns going with those that remained at home would work in the garden or continue the sorting and condensing of our ever increasing piles of our supplies.

  We found enough gas here and there to continue our scavenging for about two months. By that time our place certainly looked way different. There were trailers parked everywhere it seemed like. Covered trailers filled with a huge assortment of things and flat bed trailers that were stacked high with firewood. The garage and sheds were all full of scavenged items.

  Each covered trailer had a detailed list of its contents posted just inside each door. Every tote and bin was clearly labeled with what it contained. Tools and hand equipment of all kinds were brought back for our use or at least our possible eventual use. In our house were kept only the items that would be harmed by freezing and of course our everyday stuff.

  We had brought back several bikes (including kid’s bikes) and all the tires and tubes we could find for them. We had stationed RV’s at several distances from our house to eventually use as comfortable way stations in our future travels on foot or by bike or for use by other travelers. We had not forgotten Frank and Dorothy and brought them quite a bunch of stuff until their garage was full. We both thought we could use fertilizer and garden goods so we had split that up.

  Canning jars and lids were found and hoarded. Everyone was cautioned to open all home canned items carefully so the lids could possibly be reused. Jars that food came in were cleaned and could be reused and sealed with the original screw on lids. Nothing hardly was ever thrown away because even used most stuff could be repurposed for something else.

  Though we had the five carts that the deserters had been using we found a few other carts that we thought might work better for some things and brought those home. We brought home some building supplies and one of the first things we did was build many book shelves for the huge number of books that we brought home.

  Our garden did provide a good supply of produce this year but not near as much as we hoped and planned for. It was good thing we had planted twice as big an area as we thought we needed as even that was not enough.

  In amongst all the other stuff we had brought home we had brought all the bags and partial bags of potting soil and top soil and soil conditioner that we had found. This fall we will incorporate all that into our garden soil to help build it up. This fall would likely be the last time we could use the tiller.

  We had hoped for enough of our own home canned produce to last until our next year’s crop but we are pretty sure we did not get that much. This is still OK because we do have a bunch of commercially canned vegetables to fill in any gaps for this year. But next year we will not likely have that option to fall back on and will totally depend on our garden.

  Just when Val and I thought we would have to say something to speed things up Bill came to his senses and asked Ann to marry him. They dug through all the jewelry that we had taken off the deserters and each found a ring that would fit. We had what we all decided was a very nice wedding for them and they went and stayed a couple days at one of the empty houses for their honeymoon. Bill said he was only getting married so he did not have to sleep on the air mattress any more. Ann told him to not be so sure of that.

  With the coming of fall we harvested what fruit that was on the fruit trees that I had planted when I bought this place. They produced much more than last year but are still young trees. This year besides just eating the fresh fruit we had enough to can some also. The apple trees at the nearby vacant house again produced a lot of apples. We ate some and we dried quite a lot doing all that we could before the deer and elk ate them and this year we got way more than the animals did.

  With the cooler weather Bill shot a small bull elk and he and I used a couple of our carts to transport the meat home. That worked out very well. Again it was a group effort to cut and wrap all the meat for the freezer. Though Val and I had stocked a fair amount of freezer paper we also had scavenged more plus a huge amount of plastic wrap and zip lock bags. We also decided that the next elk that was shot we would make into jerky which would not use up any of our supplies of freezer paper and could be stored just in the cupboard.

  This time Bill brought home the elk hide and using one of our books as a guide he is tanning the hide for future use. We decided we will tan all the deer and elk hides from now on. I for see all of us dressed in buckskins in the future.

  Epilogue

  Sid

  Looks like Bill and Ann and the kids will be moving down to Camp Verde. Bill got a good job there and they found a house that is still in fair shape that only needs a little TLC to make comfortable. It also has a nice spot for a garden. The nation is sure a different place now. The scientists say the earth’s magnetic field well likely be in flux for a thousand years or more. So unless they come up with some new form of communication instead of radio waves we will still have to depend on overland travel for our news and information.

  But many things are coming back; like there is electric power most places again now. Trains are making a come back and trucking is still big. There is some air travel but it is regulated to daylight flights only and very limited in numbers. With no radio communications and no radar it is too dangerous to have a whole bunch of planes in the air at once
.

  The United States has closed down all foreign military bases and consulates. What Americans were left in foreign countries have returned home if they wished to do so. We still have a military but it is way reduced and located on or near American soil now. Plus sailors (and everyone) have to guess on their own weather now just like in the olden days.

  Sea travel is very limited, almost back to the early times of shipping when the ships were forced to stay within sight of land. Now they do go father than that but are very careful because they have to travel using the sun and stars only. Compasses still can not be trusted very much. But there is some international shipping just way less than in years past.

  In the United States we do not need to import any oil any more because we have plenty for our own to use now with the severely reduced population. Regular mail has come back as the most popular form of communication even with delivery only two times a week and only once a week in rural areas.

  All levels of government from the federal government down to city and counties are way reduced in size and scope. What news we get is from the newspapers just like years ago. Yes there are still scandals and corruption in the governments. Some things never change.

  Val and I have not been blessed with children yet but we always have hope for the future. We can always go visit our God children down by Camp Verde. We are still deciding if we want to get jobs and go back to working.

  I think I will soon get a job and work at least for awhile. We still have plenty of money and need very little with our own homestead. Bill and I split the cash, gold, and jewelry we had acquired from the deserters and plus we still had some money in the bank that never went away. Plus everything we had here at home.

  It is an interesting mix of old and new technology now days. We have all the computers but no cell phones. Land line phones work but even on them there is often a lot of interference on the line so you can not hear. And some places still have no phone service at all. No radio or TV but we still have fancy cars and trucks.

  We miss the Summers’ family but we understand them wanting to enroll their kids in a real school instead of us home schooling them. I think even with no training or curriculum we did a good job teaching the kids and I expect they will be soon at the top of their class.

  So maybe I was wrong about all of us wearing buckskins. It seems that they look kinda cool but we all like wearing cotton clothes much better. It is interesting indeed when we make the infrequent trips to town and see the collection of people there. Even with little crime now almost everyone is so used to wearing a gun that that we all still do so.

  Which is not a bad thing, I think. Everyone is polite and respectful of each other. And people are not afraid to help one another either, that is a great improvement over the dark days of our past when technology was king.

  While it is terrible all the lives that were lost and all the hardships, there was some good that came from what happened. We are now a much stronger and I think much better society.

  The End

  Thank you for reading this compilation of some of my early short stories and I hope you found them enjoyable. If they were something you liked please watch for more of my stories to follow. Below are some of my already published stories that you might also enjoy. So far I have over 40 stories published on Kindle with many in print also. My success is totally the result of you, my readers, and you have my most deep felt Thank You!

  Pete Thorsen

  Finding Hope

  When an awful pandemic sweeps across the world killing the bulk of the human population one man who has no one and does not care whether he lives through the pandemic or not, does survive. Alone he wonders why he of all people survives when so many with loving families did not. Then he finds a purpose to his life when he finds and befriends a little girl.

  Three Strikes

  And You’re Out

  America

  When three nuclear EMP missiles explode high above the United States it causes extreme devastation by taking out the whole electric grid and all electronics. People are left wondering what to do while society totally breaks down. One lone man has his own plan to survive and refuses to let anyone stand in his way to achieve his goal of personal survival.

  An Economic

  Firestorm

  This story is about the economic collapse of the US Dollar and the economy of the USA as seen and lived through by a family in rural Arizona. Naturally in the troubled times they face some hardships but having suspected something like this would happen and then being prepared saved them from the unimagined horrors and hardships that many Americans had to suffer through.

  What?

  The sun did all this!

  In this story the sun sends out a massively strong CME that strikes the earth. Similar to the one that struck in 1859 that is now known as the Carrington Event it did some damage back then but we did not have electricity back at that time. With all the electric wires running everywhere and our total dependency on electronics this time the human population took a catastrophic hit. Follow the new life of a single man who tries to unite with his family who unfortunately live in different states and the hardships he faces on his journey.

  Surviving in Trying Times

  When the recession hits an older man loses his job and can not find another. His wife and him try to cope by starting a simple home-based business but the economy continues to deteriorate. Able to read the signs of the road ahead the couple does what they can to prepare for what they think will be similar to the Great Depression. When the economy totally falls apart their preparations provide them with much greater comfort than the unprepared souls living around them.

  Hard Times

  Multiple terrorist attacks within the United States leads to the loss of life for thousands of American citizens. The terror attacks also disrupt the delicate and fragile US economy which was likely the terrorist’s real target. When a hurricane is then predicted to hit the east coast it is the last straw for one man and he starts a journey to find someplace he can ride out the storm- -both the hurricane and the economic storm.

  From Civilized

  to

  Barbaric

  When the electric power goes out and does not come back on it causes unimaginable problems in the United States. Lee Rosen is living in New York City and has a hard time believing the drastic changes he sees all around him caused from just the simple lack of electricity. He had never thought about the ramifications that a prolonged power outage would cause and just how dependent we all were on having that power come on with just the flip of a switch. He soon has no food and no water and just sees chaos everywhere he looks. This story follows this young man as he comes to grips with the new environment where he now finds himself; a violent and chaotic environment where only he is responsible for his own well being.

  Global Warming

  (It’s real this time)

  When mankind accidentally triggers global warming at an incredibly rapid pace the whole world changes with the change in the weather. Things are not like they once were and this story follows the life of a young man who lives in this now turbulent, changed world. Can people still survive after this near extinction event? Read how this young man and those in his loose community survive in this different world.

  Cruel End

  To a

  Great Country

  The once great United States slowly crumples from within due to the gradual declining of our service based economy. Slowly but steadily our economy winds down until it finally can not support itself any longer. A simple janitor watches the decline of his country and like others can do nothing about it. Instead he retreats to his own little slice of rural property as everything crashes all around him. This is the story of a simple man just trying to live out his simple life.

  The Cruel

  New World

  When a Coronal Mass Ejection from our Sun ruins all or most of the electrical equipment across the globe it devastates mankind. Without all of
the tools, equipment, and gadgets many people in our modern society do not have a clue about how to survive in the new world in which they now have to try and live. On a different track this story follows not a hero or even a person but instead this story is centered on and follows a gun, from its manufacture through its many owners.

  A warning- this story is somewhat more violent (and therefore likely more realistic in that sense) than some of my other stories. Everything in this story is not just rainbows and roses and instead shows a much harsher world. We all currently live in a rather violent world and I believe after a major event like the one portrayed in this story the world would be much more violent than it is now.

  Just Another Day

  Just Another Day is a story about a semi-retired couple who gradually come to the conclusion that the world economy is very likely to collapse into financial ruin. They then begin to plan and prepare somewhat to hopefully get the two of them through that catastrophe if or when it might happen. When five of their family are visiting from a distant state a far different and much worse catastrophe hits instead in the form of an EMP or a solar flare which takes out the power grid and most all electronics. Now with seven to provide for instead of just two they wonder just how they will ever survive this life threatening event. This is the story of how they all try to cope with the now incredibly harsh world in which they now find themselves.