Patriots Awakening

by R. M. Strauhs

  “Woo-hoo, Brandon is okay,” Stephan almost shouted. “Come on guys, get the lead out.” He spoke toward the unit.

  The short wave burst to life with, “Leprechaun here, sixty two.”

  “That was Sean.” Cord grinned from ear to ear. “Man, he has a full house.”

  “Adam and Eve here. Ike.”

  “Hallelujah, Uncle Russell and Logan are okay,” Stephan shouted. “Logan got them out of D.C. in time and he said . . . ‘Ike’. My God he’s raised a F’n army like Eisenhower.”

  Cord whistled. “They know how to do it right.”

  “Crazy Duck at your service, forty one.”

  “Good, David made it,” Cord said softly.

  “Mr. Twister, doin’ good, fifty.”

  “Good for Tom. Now if only George would call in.” Stephan said, drumming his fingers on the desk.

  “Captain Terror is quite dandy, thirty nine.”

  Both Cord and Stephan let out long sighs of relief with that announcement. “We only lost one, thank God.” Stephan stood up and stretched. “What’s the people count total?”

  “Over three hundred. Not too bad,” Cord answered.

  ~~~

  Mike turned off the large TV in the main room. “Nothing on it at all,” he told Stephan. “Sorta makes me feel sick. Like the rest of the world is dead.”

  “Well, I do know of three hundred who have survived. Just think what they can do to repopulate. When you stop and think, it all started with only Adam and Eve. Besides, there are pockets of people all over the planet. It won’t be long before communications are up and running.” Stephan tousled Mike’s hair.

  Grinning, Mike smoothed his hair. “Do you think there are any submarines that survived everything?”

  “That’s an interesting question. I hadn’t thought about that, but there’d have to be several, I’d think,” Stephan answered. “Maybe now that people feel safe, they’ll start using the short wave radio more. You know, several thousands of the so-called, ‘Doomers’ and ‘Survivalists’ have them. We’ll just keep listening and jotting down info to make a running tally.”

  “Ah, one question, what are Doomers?” Mike asked.

  “They’re people a lot like survivalists who believe in the right to bear arms to take care of their own when the world goes to hell. They started with the Y2K hysteria, and simply stayed prepared, well stocked with generators, radios, seeds, and stuff like that. I’m sure at the first sign of trouble, they went to their ‘safe houses’ they had set up out of urban areas. Folks called them crazy. Who’s laughing at them now?”

  “Is it safe for us to go outside for a while?” Mike had a sad look on his face.

  “The controls of the satellites might be in the hands of the people who caused all this. They could see us from them and maybe have some way of wiping us out. Shit, they might be able to pick us up in this cave. I don’t know, Mike. Why don’t we stay put for a couple of weeks just to be on the safe side?”

  “I’d love to go out in the warm sun before the snow flies.” With that, Mike stomped off toward the kitchen, his head hanging.

  Cord had walked up and overheard the conversation. “Poor kids, it’s hard on them being penned up full time.”

  “I know, but we have to do what’s safe first. Who knows how many thugs might be out roaming the hills looking for food. They wouldn’t think twice about killing anyone.”

  ~~~

  Ralph stuck his head out of the control room. “Guys, we have chatter.”

  Cord and Stephan hurried inside in time to hear . . .”Anyone out there?”

  “That’s the third time he’s said that,” Ralph stated.

  “We don’t want to take any chances. Could be some survivor, or could be the enemy trying to track us.” Stephan folded his arms and stood staring at the radio.

  “Testing, testing, testing, one, two, three. Anyone reading me? Please, somebody answer me.” The man’s voice spoke from the short wave.

  “What if we just say, yes? Then if he keeps on for several days, we’ll know he hasn’t been picked up or that he is one of them. Use him as a guinea pig, so to speak,” Cord suggested.

  “Okay, give it a try.” Stephan rubbed his chin in deep thought.

  Cord keyed up and spoke into the mike. “Yes, I hear you.” He then got off so no triangulation could find them.

  “Oh, man! Thank God. I was beginning to think we were the only ones left alive. Who are you? Where are you? I’m in Denver. That is, what’s left of Denver. Over.”

  The men looked at one another.

  “Please answer me. I’m only 18 and don’t know what the fuck to do. I found this tower and knew there had to be a radio in the house. I went in, and the people were shot to death in their beds. Shit, talk about smelling rank in here. I have my girl friend with me. Our parents and sisters and brothers are dead, man. The bastards killed ‘em all, man. Hell, everybody is dead but the fucker’s doin’ the shootin’. Over.”

  A few more seconds passed.

  “Shit! I know you can hear me. Why the fuck don’t you answer me?”

  Then a female voice could be heard over the radio, “Please, whoever you are, please talk to us. We’re scared and about to starve.” Then she began sobbing.

  Another voice came on. “I also read you. Truth is, people don’t trust anyone now to be who they say. I’m the ‘Jackrabbit’.”

  “Oh, thank you. I understand, now. Well, we are not the fucking blue hats, if that is what you all are afraid of. I had to kill three of the bastards myself to get to this house. Over.”

  And yet another voice came over the airways. “Stay with the radio, kid. It’s your only link to the rest of the country. This is Thunder.”

  “I’ll try to stick it out in this area. So . . . you all have nicknames. Just call me Rocky Top.”

  “Welcome. I’m, ‘Wicked Betty’,” a female voice said.

  “Can you believe this? That’s four already,” Cord said in disbelief.

  “Yep, old Rocky Top is sure pulling them from the woodwork,” Ralph answered.

  “Mud Duck’ speakin’, you all keep your ears on. Out.”

  “Copper Penny’ saying howdy all. Out.”

  “Dew Drop’ here. Heard eight or ten men checking in with each other early this morning. There’s several of us, sounds like. Out.”

  “Must be referring to us,” Cord said.

  “Now, if we could only trust them.” Stephan sighed.

  “And that was just on one band. We need to keep checking all frequencies.” Cord stated.

  “Rocky Top here. I know of a radio station about a mile from here. I’m going over and see if she is running. You might want to tune in if you’re anywhere near the Denver area. Could be she has some good voltage and can reach far . . . if the electric is still going. We gotta find some food on the way. I got an M4 off one of them blue hat mother fuckers. Wish me luck. Always wanted to be a DJ. Out.”

  ~~~

  Some two hours later, Mike ran into the control room and yelled, “Hey guys, I found a radio station, and a live person is there.”

  When Stephan and Cord walked into the main room they laughed.

  “Hey, you all out there in radio land, if there’s any of ya left. This is Rocky Top, your favorite DJ from beautiful Denver, spinnin’ and grinnin’ to your favorite tunes. To all my short wave buddies out there, welcome to KOOL radio. If you have any requests, just let me know. And here we go with the first selection of the day. An oldie to be sure, but a great one. Walkin’ Cross Texas, which I’m sure many are doing today. Oops, that’s Waltzing Cross Texas. Enjoy anyway.”

  “The little shit got it up and running. Good for him,” Ralph laughed.

  The song ended, and Rocky Top was in great form. “Hey, my people, it’s a beautiful day in the Rockies. ‘Nary an earthquake nor hurricane happening. Traffic is running smoothly in downtown Denver and no congestion on the main streets. In fact, I have yet to see a vehicle moving today. For all you shopper
s, the stores are all empty. Buncha crooked mothers done cleaned ‘em out. But it’s a good day to find a great bargain. I mean like, free, dudes and dudettes. Me, I’m coolin’ my heels here eating the last candy bar I found in the station. Someone had it in a desk drawer. God bless that person. Okay, for the next selection, here it is, ‘Celebration’.”

  “That kid is going to be the next great radio comedian,” Cord snickered.

  “Let’s go eat lunch. Been a long day already,” Stephan said. “My belly’s been growling for an hour.”

  ~~~

  Raul ran to find Cord and Stephan in the storeroom. “Hey guys, come and listen to this on the short wave. It’s that Rocky Top person. His girl friend came on saying when Rocky Top caught his breath that he needed to talk to everyone.”

  “Enrique, he on yet?” Stephan shouted as they ran into the control room.

  Before Enrique could answer, the radio came to life. “Rocky Top here. I’m panting ‘cause I’ve run a full mile. I put on ‘Celebration’ and decided to look out the window with binoculars . . . station’s on the sixth floor. What I saw made me puke. They’re eating people. I mean fuckin’ eating another human. I saw two freaks kill a woman and hack her up in pieces. Then, the mother fuckers started eating her raw. Man, fuckin’ gross. I ran in and put six CD’s on back to back to make them think I was still there, in case anyone was listening and wanted me for dinner. Just wanted you to know what was happening in my area. Be careful out there, man. Over.”

  The men listened to the news from Rocky and let it sink in.

  “Another reason to keep the kids inside,” Ralph said softly.

  Mike had been listening at the door. “Sorry for giving you trouble this morning, Stephan. I didn’t understand how bad it was. Now, I do.”

  “None of us know how bad it really is out there, Mike. We have to be on alert and do our best to make it through in one piece.”

  Alice carried in a large pot of coffee and a number of mugs on the tray. “Speaking of the President, I wonder if he survived.”

  “Oh, I’m sure he did. He’s under a mountain someplace snug as a bug and living better than we are,” Stephan answered.

  Cord took the heavy tray from her and sat it on the console. “Yeah, he and the selected ones are doing quite well, you can be sure. They’ll pop out some day and try to pull everything back together.”

  “Like Independence Day, huh?”

  “Well, I hope we don’t have to fight aliens,” Cord said. He took Alice in his arms for a bear hug.

  Mike watched Cord hug his mother and saw how happy she looked. He thought, Way to go, mom.

  Alice turned and noticed Mike. She flashed red and tried to hurry out the door and escape to the kitchen.

  “Mom,” he said, following her. His long stride soon caught up to her, and he put his arm around her shoulder. “I’m happy for you and Cord. I really am. He’s a great guy, and I like him. I just want you to know I think it’s great you’ve found someone else.”

  ~ 22~

  In Washington State, Fred Lies, or Johnny Apple Tree, with his band of fourteen, wasn’t in all that good of condition. The earthquake had taken its toll on their cave, and many supplies were lost. He knew they couldn’t stay there much longer, but he had no idea where the hell the other Special Forces groups were. That was one thing they decided not to tell one another because of being forced to give up information to the enemy. He’d heard Seth trying to call Stephan that day on the short wave and also heard the code word, cracker. Seth was probably dead, even though he had no information to give them. Evidently the rest of the groups were safe.

  “Dammit, that’s the drawback on that decision. I need to get to one of them but don’t know how,” he muttered to himself and kicked a rock far into the valley below.

  Fred had in his care five women, two kids under twelve, and seven men. Four of the men and two of the women knew how to handle a weapon. He had no choice but to pack up and get them out of there but had no idea where to go. Maybe he’d have to take a chance on the radio. Fred dejectedly walked back to the cave and turned on the short wave.

  “Johnny Apple Tree. You copy? Over.” Fred sat and waited for a minute. “Macaroon, you copy me? Over.”

  “Macaroon here.” Stephan answered.

  “Hey, Mack, Dorothy’s dog died. Over.” That was the code for I need to move to a different area and don’t know where to go.

  “I copy. Over.” Stephan replied.

  “The sun’s setting on my parade. Over.” Fred said. That was the code for the west coast.

  “I copy. Twelve. Over.” And that was code for the state of Colorado. The men had to memorize the lower 48 states in numbers just for this reason, and Stephan was telling him he could come to Colorado.

  “Yo, Leprechaun Three. Over.” That was for Idaho, and Sean telling Fred if it was closer to come on.

  “I copy three. Coffee. Over.” Fred replied. That was the code for . . . have the coffee on. I’m coming.

  “Roger, copy that. Moon high. Over.” Sean said. Moon High was code for Sun Valley, and it was up to Fred to figure it out.

  “Copy that. Coffee. Out.” Johnny Apple Tree had signed off. He knew where to head with his people . . . Sun Valley, Idaho. Now to get them there alive was going to be the problem. He was sorry the rest knew Sean was in Idaho and Stephan in Colorado, but how else was he to find out where to head?

  Fred immediately walked from the radio room in the cave to where the others sat in his compound. The quake had destroyed everything but the radio room and the main room. They had managed to dig into the food storage, so they weren’t starving, but each day more rocks fell, and it wasn’t a safe place to be. Winter was going to close in on them soon, dumping so much snow in the mountains it would make travel impossible.

  Fred leaned against the wall. “I guess you know we can’t stay here much longer. I know of a place we can go, but it’s a hell of a long way off. I’m not forcing anyone to go, but I’m taking Lucille and the kids with me. You can stay or come along. It’s up to you.”

  Fred looked at the seven men sitting there with two weeks worth of whiskers and studied their faces.

  “I’m in,” Joe said. “Hell, makes no sense to sit here waiting for the damned roof to come down on my head.” Joe was Lucille’s little brother and Fred’s brother-in-law.

  “I don’t know. There’s food here, and we might be able to find another good cave,” Larry stated.

  “Sure, Larry, I see no problem with you staying here if you want.” Larry was a lazy, short, fat, good-for-nothing asshole in Fred’s book, and his decision was fine with him.

  “I’ll stay with Larry.” Sylvia whispered. “I think we can make a go of it.”

  “Okay, no problem. That’s two staying. Who else wants to stay?” Fred looked at the rest of the men and women.

  “I’m going,” Peter said.

  “Me, too,” Eric stated, and he looked over to his wife, Eva. She shook her head yes.

  “Paul, can we go, too?” Nancy asked. She looked at him with pleading eyes. He shook his head.

  “How about it, Betty?” Ken asked.

  “Yep, I’m ready to get out of here. I’ve always liked starting a new adventure.”

  “That leaves you, Lloyd. You staying or going?”

  “Heck, I’m no party pooper. I’m going,” Lloyd said, flashing a big toothy grin.

  “It’s settled, then. We pack up as much food and supplies as we can carry and leave at daybreak.”

  ~~~

  Daybreak came with Fred’s group of thirteen ready to take off. They had packed sleeping bags, extra clothes, and food and water in backpacks. Of course, every person was well armed with extra ammunition, grenades, and radios. Fred had a surprise. He took them to a different cave and there sat twenty motorcycles.

  “If they’re good enough for the Marines to use in combat zones, they’re good enough for us,” Fred told the group around him. “Luckily, the quake didn’t bury them. I
don’t think this cave will hold much longer, though. More rocks fall each day in here, and we’ve already lost four bikes.”

  “Those two Gold Wings are mine and Joe’s personal bikes, and I have the pull trailers packed with fuel and extra supplies.” Fred pointed at the beautiful bikes, all decked out with every possible accessory you could buy for one. “Those of you, who have never been on a bike, go get one of the extras sitting over there, and we’ll give you a crash course, hopefully without you crashing. We don’t want you taking off not knowing what you’re doing. Just remember, these bikes have power and lots of it.”

  In thirty minutes, everyone seemed capable of driving one. The eleven-year-old twin boys, Ronald and Arnold, were pros on bikes, due to their parents and uncle taking them out on weekend outings.

  Larry and Sylvia came down to watch the others prepare to leave. Sylvia was overweight and a bit lazy. Her whiny voice grated on everyone’s nerves. She and Larry made a good couple.

  Peter said, “I want to say a prayer for our safety.” He bowed his head and folded his hands. “Father, bless us and keep us safe as we travel to a new home. In Jesus name, Amen.”

  After the Amen’s, the thirteen started their engines and took off, one behind the other, down the mountain toward an unknown destination.

  ~~~

  They made good time and had no problems the first day. The bikes hummed right along, pulling the loads. Fred took the point, and Joe brought up the rear. Everyone was on constant lookout for any others in the area.

  That night, they camped behind a cluster of large rocks out of sight of the road.

  Fred said, “We can’t build a fire for our own safety, so it’s cans of cold beans all around.”

  At daybreak the group was getting ready to take off once more. “I should have brought gloves and a pillow. Those hard grips made my hands sore,” Joe popped off. “Don’t know about the rest of you, but those knobby tires on asphalt vibrate the shit out of my ass.”

  Fred chuckled, “You got that right. Mine, too. Those tires are made for country riding.”