EMP Escape: EMP Journey Book 2

by Miles Maresh

  Although his cabin was secluded and protected by security gates, Jim’s place was actually just the cover for a larger shelter. Along with prepper friends, Jim had built an underground shelter as wide as the house, but 3 times as long. . The shelter was cleverly hidden and required the removal of several books from a bookcase and pressing hidden buttons. When the bookcase slid aside a set of stairs appeared heading down. At the bottom of the stairs was a vault door as thick as those in banks, but pressurized better to withstand nuclear fallout. If anyone managed to find the stairs and get through the vault door they would still be killed by poison gas if they did not enter the code to disarm the alarm system. The shelter itself was stocked with Jim’s extensive gun collection and a separate safe with a little currency, but a larger supply of gold coins, some of which Jim had bought in violation of U.S, embargo laws. He thought if he ever needed the gold, there would be little repercussions on how he acquired it.

  The shelter was more than just a storage locker. Separate sleeping, kitchen and living room facilities that looked as nice as many apartments were set in the middle of the shelter. Missing of course were windows, but Jim had simulated screens that looked like windows of scenes from various locations around the globe Jim figured that two people would live in the shelter comfortably for 3 years if it came down to that. The cabin was far enough away from Denver that a nuclear blast on the city would not destroy the cabin, but fallout would require a retreat into the shelter for a time. Eventually his above ground sensors and cameras would enable him to know if it was safe outside. He hoped his girlfriend Kaitlyn would join him if the feared event ever happened. She knew of the underground shelter and he had told her how to use it, but she thought it was a colossal waste of money even though Jim was wealthy.

  Chapter 5

  David’s house in Pittsburgh was well supplied but he was not well known as a prepper except to family and close friends. When he closed his bar for the duration of the crisis, his customers asked him what he planned to do. He said he would just go home and wait it out. He did not want to tell people that he had a secondary location, and certainly he did not tell them that he believed his bar would never be opened again. Like most people, his patrons were confident the power would be back on soon, although each day made that possibility seem a little less likely. His parents were alone at the farm, because the rest of his family was having trouble getting there. Every family member he had talked to were either having trouble believing the EMP was real, or running into difficulty making it out of their own area. Except for Evan’s family, who knew from his position in the government that North Korea was a real threat, many people had trouble believing that a nuclear attack could actually happen. The EMP was a little harder to deny since cars and cell phones would not be affected by a normal power outage, but the public still expected the government would step in and save them. With no television or internet newscasts, the only way to disseminate this information was by Ham radios and satellite phones. Reliance on the internet had lessened the public’s knowledge of this more rudimentary technology. Most of David’s family did not have cars that were EMP resistant and would have to make alternate plans unless they could manage to acquire and keep a vehicle that still worked. Thankfully it was September. Even if they had to walk, family members from the East coast could arrive in a week or two. David knew that his brothers living on the East Coast would have more trouble if they waited too long. His brother Evan, lived in Washington D. C. and he had advised him to leave early and not tell anyone else about the nuclear threat. The government was probably aware of the possibility and were moving key political figures out of the area. If word got out and Evan was caught in a mass evacuation, he might not be able to beat the rush be able to make it out with his own family. Evan had a wife and young son and David feared for his nephew. David’s son Barry was making his way from California to Colorado where he was meeting with Jim who was planning to fly to the farm with his girlfriend and Jim’s. Both planned to stay at the farm and would help with defenses but they might still be days away from meeting and getting in the air. Barry had not made out of California yet and had 2 large states to cross before he make it to Jim’s location. His sister and her husband were already driving in from Texas with her husband and two small children. David knew his brother in law Clint, had an EMP proof truck and was proficient with firearms. He was still worried. What could be a 2 day drive would cut across the middle of the country with many large cities in the path. Even if he drove around the congested areas, Clint might have some problems. They were sure to run into some type of roadblock or town where people might try to confiscate their vehicle, demand their supplies, or both. With two children under the age of ten, David knew Julie’s family would not be able to walk to the farm and he advised her to call him if she ran into any trouble. He was prepared to leave to rescue his sister’s family, although his wife told him it was too dangerous to drive across several states.

  Concerned about his parents being alone at the farm any longer David decided to load the supplies in his truck and trailer and head north with his wife and daughter. He had planned to stay in Pittsburgh for a longer period of time, but then city seemed to becoming more dangerous as people ran out of food. He had already observed several stores being looted, with the police nowhere to be seen. Several airplanes had crashed, some right in the city. One missed his house by only several miles and he thought it was time to leave. He had defenses he had not fully developed for the farm and needed to have something in place before refugees from the cities decided to settle on his land. Even though it was early after the EMP, some city residents would be headed for the country to wait out the event. It was not the flood of people it would be in a week once their food was gone, but David had no intention of making the farm a refuge for people that were not family or friends. Jennifer thought they should help as many people as possible but David insisted that anyone they gave assistance now, would cause family members to go hungry later. He had about 20 family members that would be staying at the farm as well as close prepper friends that had either helped build it, or had assisted in other ways. Feeding and housing 20 people was something he could manage with his supplies, but not if he gave assistance to everyone.

  They had no trouble on the roads close to Pittsburgh. To avoid leaving many of his supplies in the shelter at the house, he had loaded as many as he could in the trailer he pulled behind his truck. He still had about half of his supplies left in the shelter, but it was so well hidden that he believed he could come back and pick them up later. The trailer was enclosed so the few people he saw on the road did not realize the mass of supplies he was leaving with. As they got further away from town, they encountered a few running vehicles mostly headed north as he was. There were a surprising number of people walking on the side of the road. He did not think people had already ran out of food, but if their cars became disabled they might have become stranded after the CME stopped their vehicles. A few of them tried to flag their truck down. David’s wife and daughter said “We should stop and help them, they have children. We can at least give them some food.” David replied “Where do we draw the line? We have enough land and supplies to feed our own family for a while. It is a simple matter of survival. If we feed everyone we encounter, our own family and friends will starve. There will be thousands of people showing up at our farm for their share by next week. When we get to the farm, we will be turning these same people away. If I give them food now it will make it easier for them to reach us.” “Judy said “So we’re just going to let people die?” David realized that his daughter didn’t see the implications of the new society. He replied as gently as he could. “Millions of people will die before this is over. We cannot save them all and I chose to save my family as much as these unfortunate people are trying to save theirs. Maybe they will find a place to survive, or maybe the government will come in with FEMA trucks, but it cannot come from us.”

  The family arrived at the farm without further di
fficulty despite seeing people walking back the other direction from his driveway David’s parents told him that they already had to turn away several groups that were attempting to pass through or camp on their land despite the fences and no trespassing signs. One group actually came to the door of the farmhouse and announced that the elderly couple living there would have to share the house with them. David’s father, Clem fired his double barreled shotgun at the feet of the group and said if you come any closer the next one will be in your chests. The intruders went away, but David agreed that they would probably be back with guns of their own. He had a couple of surprises ready for them if they did return. He topped the low stone wall with razor wire and added new signs, warning of mines. David planted several claymores at the most vulnerable points just inside the wall. Once he got more manpower he would mine the rest of the wall, but many children were to show up and had to be taught to stay away from the inside of the wall where the mines would be placed. He also established a watch schedule. There were only 5 people at the farm so everyone did a watch. They could not cover the whole farm so the plan was to go to several lookouts with binoculars and keep an eye on areas of the farm both in front along the driveway, and across the farmland that backed up to the woods. The forest was thick and intruders were unlikely to come in that way, but it was a weak point in their defenses. When more people showed up later, a more comprehensive watch would be developed.

  Chapter 6

  Barry and Megan crossed the state line into Nevada without incident. They did have to divert around stalled cars and groups of people. Using the 4 wheel drive capability of the Jeep, and occasionally backtracking it was a slower journey than they had hoped. They had a winch on the front of the Jeep so he could occasionally move stalled cars out of the way, but sometimes there were so many that they had to go off road, or find another highway. Once they got east of Reno, night had fallen and the rural highway they were on was pitch black. They figured they needed to get some sleep and started looking for cover. The Nevada high desert offered little shelter. When they reached the town of Fallon, Nevada they found a stand of trees a hundred yards off the dirt road they were on. Barry wanted to get the Jeep out of sight and he carefully weaved through the desert underbrush to the cover of the trees. They slept in the Jeep, but Barry insisted they sleep in shifts, leaving one person awake at all times. Barry stayed awake until 2:00 AM, and then exchanged with Megan. He told her to wake him at 5:00 AM and they would get back on the road.

  When he woke the sun was up and he realized he had slept longer than planned. He looked for Megan to ask why she didn’t wake him but she was nowhere to be seen. He figured she must have went into the trees to relieve herself and called out for her. When she did not respond, he went around the trees and spotted a vehicle on the dirt road they had left the day before. It was a big 4 wheel drive pickup with 2 middle aged men and they were stopped on the road looking into the field. They did not spot Barry who was still obscured, but Barry figured they must have spotted the Jeep or Megan. He followed the gaze of the men and saw Megan hiding behind a tree to Barry’s left and about 50 yards closer to the men in the truck. He realized they had spotted her, and knew where she was hiding. They advanced on her position holding guns but not pointing them. Barry was not close enough to hear the conversation when the men reached Megan but he could tell by her gestures that she was trying to divert their attention away from Barry and the Jeep. She gestured towards town, and started to walk in that direction. Barry was holding his Sig, but so far the men had not done anything to warrant using gunfire against them. They protested as Megan walked away. He knew that they might just be attracted to her. Megan was a beautiful black girl that turned heads everywhere she went. The two men argued a bit in the field but eventually went back to their truck and slowly drove down the road pacing Megan as she continued walking across the field.

  While the two men had not done anything to Megan, the fact that they were stalking her made Barry feel compelled to take some action. He didn’t want to leave the Jeep unguarded but the men had not spotted it and were focused on Megan. He followed on foot for a quarter mile staying in cover and eventually the men turned their truck onto the field and drove towards to where Megan was walking. It was a rough field and even with the 4 wheel drive the truck was going slow, but still faster than Megan could run away. Barry was holding his pistol and he waited until the truck was almost stopped traversing a large boulder. He aimed for the front tire and blew a large hole in it. The sound of the tire blowing unnerved the men, and obscured the sound of the gunshot. The men thought the tire had blown due to the terrain. They jumped out of the truck cursing at their misfortune and chased Megan on foot. They were not holding their guns any longer and Barry saw no reason to kill them. He shot at their feet and both men were hit with what was probably painful, but non-fatal wounds. Barry ran up to the men, to make sure they were incapacitated as Megan returned. The men were had left their guns in the truck and were able to painfully stagger back towards it where it was resting on 3 tires. Barry reached the truck before they did and relieved them of all the weapons he found, He ordered the men to lie on the ground until he was gone and the men complied with hate in their eyes. Barry and Megan retreated to the Jeep and carefully traversed the field. When they reached the dirt road, they went the other direction from where the wounded men lay. Barry did not want to take the chance that they had another gun he had not found. They cleared the area and Barry gassed up the Jeep, siphoning from one of the many stalled cars on the main road. Megan explained that she had let Barry sleep in because she though he needed the rest. She went for a walk around their location and was surprised when the truck appeared on the dirt road. She hid behind a tree, but it was not large and the men spotted her. She was too far away from the Jeep to wake Barry, and because he was asleep she tried to divert the men away from his location. Barry was not upset, but he thought she needed to carry a firearm, at least while on guard duty. When they reached the farm, everyone would be expected to participate in defense He showed her how to use the weapons they had confiscated from the men in the field as well as his Sig pistol. He said he thought she could get her own when they reached Colorado. Jim, his father’s friend had a large supply of guns, and had actually supplied the Sig he was currently using.

  The high desert town of Fallon, had barricades blocking the main road through town. Barry thought that was logical that small towns would seek to protect their resources, but because their main road was also the state highway, he needed to get to the other side to continue making their way to Colorado. After reviewing the roadblock with binoculars, it did not look like they were letting people through the town, and would no doubt be interested in his Jeep and supplies. They had turned several people walking away, but Barry and Megan had supplies they would probably want to take. They also had just shot at two probable town residents and wanted to get through before they reported back. As outsiders they did not think they would believe that the men were at fault. They backtracked and went past several farm roads that were also blocked off. Eventually they got to a dirt road that was not on Barry’s topographical map, but seemed to be heading in the right direction. They came back to the highway just ahead of the roadblock at the other end of the town. This time they were spotted by men manning the roadblock. Barry sped off knowing he had already shot two men who probably lived in this town. If they had made it back yet, the townspeople would probably be looking for them. A young white guy with a black girl was not something backwater towns like this were used to seeing. There was some commotion at the roadblock and a truck with emergency lights on top of it came around the blockade and chased after Barry’s Jeep with its lights flashing. He did not know if the police were using this after their own cars no longer worked, but he was not about to stop and end up in some small town jail while society degraded around him. He kept going and looked for an area where he could lose the truck which had caught up and stayed on his tail. He knew whether the truck was polic
e or not, they would be taking his vehicle if they were caught. Eventually he heard some gunshots and realized the truck occupants were shooting at them. This verified for him that they were not police as he didn’t feel they would fire at them unprovoked. Megan grabbed one of the confiscated rifles. He had only given her rudimentary training her how to use these, but she aimed it at the pursuing truck and released a barrage of shots emptying the magazine and almost ripping the gun from her hands. The truck was obviously hit in some critical component as smoke came out of the engine as it slowed to a stop. Barry and Megan sped off toward Wendover, Utah. They did stop to check for gunshot damage. The gunfire had come from the rear and all of Barry’s supplies had blocked them from being hit. Several of the cases of MREs had been destroyed by gunfire, but Barry thought was a good trade instead of being shot himself.