The Systemic Series - Box Set

by K. W. Callahan

  The kids were all in a tizzy too, wondering what we’d eat for dinner and why anyone would steal from us as we were “good people” as Sarah put it.

  Will and Ray wanted to go outside and investigate, so we put on our winter gear to go out and take a better look. I showed them the tracks, and this time, we followed them. I had missed where some of the tracks broke off and circled around the house. At least two of the intruders had stopped at areas below several of the castle’s windows and they had even gone up to the walled garden’s entry door. It appeared as though they were investigating points of entry.

  And while it was a setback to have the fridge raided, that didn’t bother me as much. We could replace the food. I think more than anything, the intrusion of the outsiders had dealt a severe blow to me mentally as well as to the group and our collective sense of security. The lost food would have been one thing. It was the middle of winter and people might be starving. An empty stomach could lead people to desperate measures, especially if they were trying to feed their families. However, this was more than that. These people were looking to get into the house, and that pushed my buttons.

  When Will and Ray were satisfied that the trespassers were long gone, we gathered in the garage’s upstairs suite – where we could meet in private – sat down, and came up with a plan we thought would work for how to deal with the situation. I didn’t want to get into a meeting with the rest of the group only to have it turn into a big argument because Will, Ray, and I all had various outlooks and ideas on what should be done. If we were in agreement ahead of time, then I hoped it would make it easier for the rest of the group to fall in line. So after about 20 minutes, and once we were on the same page, we headed back inside the house and gathered the rest of the group for a family meeting where we could further discuss what had happened and what we were planning to do about it.

  I started the meeting by explaining exactly what had occurred, what had been taken, and that the house’s entries had apparently been probed for weak points.

  Everyone sat silent, listening.

  “I know it probably frightens you to hear this,” I said. “And it probably makes you mad as hell too, but we can’t lose our heads over this. We need to react calmly and with a plan…which we have,” I assured them.

  I then explained that in reaction to what had occurred, we were going to move the refrigerator into the office area – a move I now admitted we should have made weeks ago – where we would open all the windows and close the connecting doors to the library and family room in order to make it cold enough to refrigerate food but not make the rest of the house too chilly. We would also be doubling up the night watch, I explained. But we’d turn this watch into more of a roaming patrol. The house would be divided into two halves with one person in charge of each half while at the same time keeping a watchful eye on the grounds without putting themselves in danger by venturing outside.

  “That’s all fine and dandy,” said Pam. “But what about being proactive? Why should we let these people just waltz off with our stuff without there being any repercussions to them? I mean, they’re getting pretty ballsy. What’s to stop them from continuing their raids? It’s been pretty easy pickings for them so far. It’s not like we’ve exactly put of much of a fight…or any at all for that matter. I mean, it’s pretty much guaranteed they’ll be back…right?”

  She didn’t say it meanly, just matter-of-factly. She was frustrated just like the rest of us. They were honest questions and ones that I felt were reasonable to ask considering what had occurred.

  “I completely understand your frustration,” I said. “The three of us…” I nodded at Will and Ray as I said it, “…largely felt the same way at first, but let me try to explain our train of thought and why we aren’t immediately going after these people. First off, we don’t know for sure whether they’ll be back or not. These people might be just like us but without the means or ability to sustain themselves. They could be starving and desperate and trying to feed their families. They didn’t do us physical harm in any way. So we can’t just assume the worst about them.”

  “But we can’t assume the best either,” Dad added.

  “You’re right,” I agreed.

  “Shouldn’t we try to follow their tracks to see where they’re holding out…a scouting mission or something?” Joanna asked. “Then we’ll at least know who we’re up against, what sort of numbers they have, and where they’re located.”

  I nodded, “It’s a good idea, and we talked about doing just that; but it’s too risky right now. Whoever did this will probably be expecting such a move, and they may either have set traps for us along the way or be laying in wait. While these people could very well be normal individuals, they may not be. You have to bear in mind that a lot of prepper types moved out into this region and were ready for something like this well before it ever happened. They trained for defending their territory and are likely to shoot first and ask questions later. Either way, we’re not willing to chance it right now. We think it’d be better to wait for a week or two and let them think we’re not going to do anything…that we’re just going to let the incident go. Meanwhile, we’ll be better prepared if they come back. Then we wait. Once things have calmed down on both sides and they hopefully think we’ve gotten back to business as usual, we’ll make our move. We’ll go out on a scouting mission and see what we see.”

  “Who will go?” Claire asked.

  “Us three,” I shrugged, looking again at Will and Ray.

  “Just three of you?” Joanna questioned, frowning. “What if something happens? What if there are twenty or thirty of these guys in a camp or something?”

  “Well, that’s why it’s just a scouting mission and not a raid,” Ray stepped in. “Remember, we’re only looking to collect information at this point. They haven’t attacked us per se, and we don’t want to push them…at least not until we know more about them.”

  “I want to go,” said Joanna bluntly.

  “Jo, you have a child,” I said.

  “So do you,” she shot back.

  “But that’s different. Jason at least has Claire if something happens. And Paul and Sarah have Sharron if something should happen to Will.” I paused, “But Shane…well, he only has you.”

  “He has Janet,” she said without hesitation. “And the rest of the family. You all are just as much or more of a family than we’ve ever had. You’ve been nothing but good to us since the beginning. I trust you all to raise Shane right should the situation call for it.”

  I hesitated, trying to think of a response to deter her. I wasn’t really expecting this wrench to be thrown into my works.

  “I’ll go in her place,” Dad offered.

  “That’s a nice gesture Dad, but that’s not really the point. We need people here at the home while we’re gone. I don’t really like to think about it, but what if something happens to the scouting party or the castle is attacked while we’re away? We need some people here to defend it. And don’t get me wrong, you all are more than capable of doing so; however, we can’t chance too many lives on this mission or spreading ourselves too thin at home. We need to leave some able bodies here to carry the torch should something happen. Someone will have to hunt…probably Dad…and maybe you as well, Joanna. People will still need to chop wood, grow food, care for the kids, and all the rest. So I just don’t think it’s a good idea to take too many people.”

  “I’m coming…end of story,” said Joanna, locking eyes with me unflinchingly. “Remember, you nearly killed me with your car when you ran me over, so you owe me one. Plus, this isn’t about me, it’s about numbers. Four is a better group. Then you can split up into pairs if the situation calls for it.”

  I sighed. “Okay,” I said, shaking my head. “If you’re set on it, I guess there’s nothing I can say or do to change your mind?” I phrased it as a hopeful sort of question.

  “There’s not,” she said.

  “Well, just remember, this won’t be for ano
ther week or so, and we’ve got some work to do until then, so let’s focus on getting things set up and people ready here.”

  And thus the meeting ended. It didn’t go exactly as I’d planned, but overall, I was satisfied with the results. I knew the wives would be worried, and I wasn’t exactly excited about the proposition of leaving the security of our castle fortress, but Will and Ray had been right. We needed to find out exactly who was out there and what was going on, and it appeared that we were being forced into doing this sooner rather than later.

  * * *

  The next week and a half was nerve-racking.

  New Year’s Eve was subdued and we remained vigilant as we all remembered what had happened on Christmas Eve and didn’t want to be taken advantage of again.

  Tensions were high among the group. The night-watch patrols were jumpy. The rest of us spent most of our free time when we weren’t doing chores, checking, cleaning, and re-checking our weapons, loading and checking extra gun magazines, counting ammo, and conducting firearms training. Weapons were assigned to the group all the way down to little Paul. It wasn’t that we wanted the children getting into a fire-fight of any sort; but if worse came to worst, we at least wanted them able to defend themselves. And since it had been a while since some within our group had fired a weapon, we decided to begin weapons training and target practice with everyone but Shane and Jason. However, even these two youngsters, while they weren’t allowed to fire a weapon, were allowed to come and observe and learn with the others to get them acclimated to the sights and sounds of weapons being fired.

  We spent as much or more of our training time with Sarah and Paul focusing on gun safety and the dangers that loaded guns could present as on the actual use of firearms. With all the loaded weapons that would be around the castle, we wanted to ensure that the youngsters understood that guns – as with many other tools – could be useful, but used in the wrong way could also be extremely dangerous.

  We took our training time seriously, not only because we wanted everyone well-trained and prepared, but because we wanted to conserve ammo and maximize the few rounds we could dedicate to target practice. We did most of our preparatory classroom-type training in the basement where it was warmer and where we were out of view of anyone who might be lurking in the forest nearby.

  However, when it came to our actual target practice, we decided to move outside for several reasons. First off, while we could have turned a portion of the basement into a shooting range, we just felt that it was safer overall to be outdoors to avoid any mishaps or potential for ricochets. But there was another factor involved in our decision to be outside for our practice, and that was for the effects that our gunfire could have on any outsiders who might be in the vicinity. Ray felt that shooting outside could actually work in our favor as a potential deterrent. Any trespassers would be sure to hear our shots and it would inform them that not only were we well-armed but knowledgeable of and willing to use our weapons.

  Therefore, we spread our target practice out, doing a little each day, taking individuals outside one at a time. In this way, we hoped to make our gunfire sound more impressive and have anyone lurking around the castle thinking that we had enough ammo to be constantly wasting it. We also hoped that by stretching the duration of our practice, we would expand the timeframe that the sound of our gunfire was audible to any passers-by throughout the day. This way, no matter when or where someone might be in the area immediately surrounding the castle, they would hear the sounds of gunfire. We already knew that the cat was out of the bag about us being here, so now we were going out of our way to let outsiders know that we weren’t afraid of letting anyone and everyone know it. Our main goal – or hope – was that potential trespassers would think that we were training a small army rather than just a few family members, several of whom were kids.

  Thankfully, we’d added to our collection of weapons after the attack in southern Illinois, picking up several firearms from the trespassers we’d killed. The problem was that we didn’t have a ton of ammo for these pieces. Several of the hunting rifles and handguns had only come with 10 or 20 rounds, limiting how effective they’d be in the defense of the castle.

  Larger firearms were of course doled out to myself, Will, Ray, Dad, and Joanna. This group was more experienced with these types of weapons which included three assault rifles and two shotguns. These were more powerful weapons, but we also had less ammo for them. We also got handguns as backup pieces. Meanwhile, Claire and Janet each took .22 caliber rifles, which we had plenty of ammo for and were weapons that were easy to handle and had little recoil. Sharron and Pam got hunting rifles. Paul and Emily got smaller handguns, one of which was a .22, which the group also used for their handgun training and target practice due again to the plethora of ammo that we had for this caliber weapon. We were shortest on shotgun shells. Seeing as how these guns were used mainly for hunting, and they were only to be used for defense at close-range, this wasn’t as much of a concern. Dad and Joanna got the shotguns since we wanted to spread them out, one with us on the scouting mission and one with the home defense group. Both of them were experienced with this type of weapon since they had hunted in their younger days back in southern Illinois, Joanna with her father as a teenager, and Dad when he was attending Southern Illinois University.

  We had a couple other handguns that we’d collected from the attack on our camp and that weren’t in the best condition. We also didn’t have much ammo for them, so we kept those in the castle’s “safe areas” to be held as reserve firearms in case of an attack.

  While Ray and I handled the majority of firearms training, Dad, Joanna and Will worked to rebuild our stockpile of meat. Pickings were a bit slimmer than they had been when it came to the available wildlife, and it made me wonder if people had indeed been poaching our land. Not only this, but with water fowl having completed their treks south for the winter and many other animals deep in hibernation, we were left largely to hunt deer.

  Thankfully, Sharron’s garden was now producing well. She had started growing onions in addition to her other horticultural options and we were thankfully to have her efforts paying off so fruitfully, especially when it took nearly three days for our hunters to bring back their first kill, a small doe that would provide us just enough meat to feed the family for about a week if we really stretched it.

  In the meantime, Ray, Will, Joanna, and I were developing the plan for our upcoming scouting mission and getting our supply list together. While we hoped not to have to, we were planning for the possibility of having to spend one or even possibly two nights away from the castle depending upon a variety of factors that included weather, where our travels would take us, and what sorts of situations we might encounter.

  We decided that to err on the side of caution, we should pack enough provisions to be away for a total of three nights just in case, although with the severity of the winter thus far, we hoped not to be sleeping outside in the elements for that length of time.

  We began smoking and drying some of the venison meat to act as our travel provisions, which put a further strain on the family food supply. We were eating a lot of squash to replace the lost meat. Sharron would even make “squash cakes” for breakfast, a treat she’d developed using squash pulp, a little flour as a binding agent, and water, and which she would sprinkle with sugar and then deep fry in venison grease. But while we’d found that squash was great for filling our bellies, it didn’t keep us full for very long. And about an hour after every meal, the kids would be whining for snacks. Sharron would often placate their cries with salt-sprinkled tomato slices or a small cucumber cut into halves and sprinkled with salt – her version of a pickle. They weren’t perfect options, but they were certainly better than nothing.

  The plan for our scouting mission involved several elements, the first of which revolved largely around getting into the town of Tipton unnoticed. Then we hoped to take some time to evaluate the situation there, potentially making contact with the l
ocal population if it appeared reasonably safe to do so. Then, if we made contact, we also created a list of things we wanted to ask them about or try to find out. We decided we’d like to know more about the local as well as possibly the national situation if news was available. We wanted to know whether supplies were available and could be bartered for. We also wanted to find out who might be making the intrusions into our area, and if we could, possibly talk to them in hopes of coming to some sort of resolution or at least letting them know that we wouldn’t be accepting any more acts of thievery with the leniency we’d demonstrated to this point.

  Our provisions for the mission consisted largely of food, weapons, ammo, our tent, and sleeping bags. In my pack, I also brought some cash, silver ounce rounds, bars and coins, as well as certain medical supplies. Putting the money and silver in with my pack seemed kind of silly, but since we had no real idea of how transactions were being conducted for the exchange of goods and services, I figured it was best to be prepared on a number of levels. If there was a general store in town, I wanted to have a variety of forms of exchange with which to buy or barter.

  We decided that it would be best to leave the castle on Saturday night around midnight. Our plan was to follow the main road into town, a journey that – paired with traversing the castle’s entry road – we estimated to be around 12 miles. We’d cut through the forest if the situation deemed it necessary to avoid confrontation, but we hoped we wouldn’t have to. With the snow cover as it was, and factoring in any potential delays we might encounter along the way, we hoped to cover two miles an hour, making it to town around dawn. This would allow us to check out the situation there a little bit before daybreak. If things looked good, we’d try to make contact with the locals; if nobody was around, we’d turn our excursion into a sort of scavenge/salvage mission. We could come back with the vehicles if we found enough supplies to make it worth using the fuel. If there were people around though, and the situation bore any resemblance to pre-flu societal norms, our hopes were that the residents of the town might be attending church on a Sunday morning, thereby making it easier for us to check things out safely while they were preoccupied. If the situation appeared too dangerous, we’d back off, make camp in a secluded spot for the rest of the day, and hike back that night under the cover of darkness.