EMP Escape: EMP Journey Book 2

by Miles Maresh

  Chapter 12

  Evan, Sandy and their son Mark were within 20 miles of the farm and they had still manage to retain their bicycles. They had hidden in the woods when they had encountered people in the past, now that they were close, they were anxious to finish the journey. As he rode, Evan was on the sat phone with David to let them know they were coming in. They came around a corner and encountered a group of young men in their twenties. They were walking in the other direction and they said “Where are you headed with those bikes?” Evan tried to ride around him, but a man grabbed his handlebars as others did the same to Sandy and Mark. They were wrestled off their bicycles and tried to get away, but were surrounded by the group. One man saw the sat phone in Evan’s hand and said “What are you doing with a cell phone? Those don’t work any longer.” Evan knew the phone was on and David was hearing everything so he wanted to buy time and let David know what was happening. He said “You stole our bikes, just let us go.” The man said not until we check your packs, Evan knew they just had a few energy bars left so he surrendered his backpack and directed his family to do the same, “Now can we go?” one man was looking curiously at the sat phone and noticed it was lit up. “What kind of phone is that?” He exclaimed. Evan replied “It’s a satellite phone. You can have that too if you want it, but unless you know someone with another, there’s no one to call.” They continued to root through their bags and try to use the phone and Evan again tried to walk away with his family. “Not so fast “one of the men said. Pulling a knife he continued “If you have a phone like that you must be calling someone with another. They probably also have supplies. You need to take us to whoever you were calling.

  Just then the group heard multiple gunshots and noticed David, Jennifer and Clem approaching them with shotguns. “We shot over your heads once” David shouted. “You need to drop the bikes and head the other way the next shots will be in your chests.” One man grabbed Sandy and put a knife to her throat. “Drop your guns or I slit her neck” he commanded. Sandy twisted around and kneed him in the groin, He dropped to the ground dropping the knife as the rest of the group retreated. David looked at Sandy astounded “Where did you learn that?” Sandy replied “Self-defense classes at the Y.” The group had Jennifer and Sandy walk Mark out of sight. They had to decide what to do with the man writhing on the ground. “He put a knife to my wife” Evan said “Let me kill him” “Are you sure”? said Clem, knowing this son was a pacifist. “If I let him live he will do this again to our family or someone else. It is my responsibility to protect my family.” David handed Evan a pistol and he pulled the trigger without hesitation as the man lay on the ground pleading before him. Clem agreed with his decision, but he was sure Evan had never killed anyone before, and did not even like to hunt. It was good that he was ready for this new society. Witnessing his home being destroyed by a nuclear strike had hardened his son, and it was probably the best for his family’s long term survival. The family was taken to the farm. Because they were the first of David’s brothers to arrive they were housed in the main building. With a young son, it was planned for them to stay in the house. When the older children and single adults arrived they would be housed in the trailers lined up behind the house.

  Justin and Mariah crossed the Brooklyn Bridge without incident. There were many people out on the streets and although they were on edge, there was no violence yet. Without power most shops and restaurants were closed although a few enterprising business were open for business on a cash and carry basis. Mariah knew it was just a matter of time until people ran out of supplies. Those businesses that had some now, would be better off to keep it for themselves. A few people in the street seemed to know of the nuclear attacks, but most people thought the attacks had caused the EMP and did not know that two cities had been destroyed. Most were upset that their cars did not run, but what was worse for so many people was their inoperable devices. The couple noticed that most people, especially young ones, were going through withdrawal from their cell phone addictions. Even Mariah had to keep herself from checking her phone every few minutes to see if it magically had started working again. People were already looking curiously at the backpacks she and Justin were wearing, but when people ran out of food she didn’t think they would be so passive. One couple ran up to them and asked if they had seen the FEMA trucks. Mariah was startled. If FEMA was onsite they may not need to evacuate. The couple persisted. “You got those supplies from FEMA didn’t you? Tell us where they are.” Other people were looking curiously at the exchange and she knew that telling them the truth would not be helpful .She said “FEMA’s on the next block over.” As people streamed back Mariah and Justin ran forward. To avoid any more large crowds they headed North through residential neighborhoods.

  They planned to meet Justin’s brother Frank, heading to the farm from Boston. Justin figured their paths would intersect somewhere in western Massachusetts. Frank had two teenaged children and the larger group would have more safety. Justin also hoped that they would be able to acquire a vehicle, He knew his father had many associates in the area, and wanted them together for a reason. With a car they could be at the farm in a few hours, but on foot it could take weeks. Justin did not realize that the cities he would encounter on the way would make keeping a vehicle problematic. They planned to skirt north of Philadelphia, but smaller towns had their problems as well, and would not like travelers in their communities. From talking to Frank on the sat phone, they knew that he and his children were riding bicycles. They knew bicycles could shave days off their journey, but they did not own bikes, and resolved to look for shops that sold them or had unsecured bikes they could take. As they continued on foot, they came across a Wal Mart with looting in full scale progress. People were leaving with carts full of whatever groceries they could find. Others had big screen TVs and electronic gadgets “Have people lost their minds?” Mariah exclaimed. “None of that will work for a long time.” They slipped in the store and walked back to the sporting goods section. Amazingly there were still bicycles left and they grabbed two along with material to fix flat tires. Justin said “I feel terrible stealing these but there’s no one here to take our money.” Mariah replied “When this is over, we will send them money for what we took.” Neither of them believed it would be that simple, but it made them feel better. Because they still had provisions in their go-bags they decided to forgo the food department where most people were congregated and fighting for scraps. As they exited the store they came across some armed men in a pickup. They looked at the bikes but did not say anything and proceeded inside, leaving men to guard the truck. Justin said we need to keep looking for a car that will run. Mariah said “I think it would be a lot harder to keep that than a bicycle. The men did not bother us because they had a working truck. If we had one, we would probably be a target everywhere. They had small pistols in each go-bag but neither Justin nor Mariah had trained with one and did not feel comfortable if it came down to a gunfight. Mariah had actually taken her gun to a firing range in the city, so she at least knew how to use it. At any rate they were not going to take a vehicle by force and now had working bicycles, which most people had apparently not considered alternate transportation yet.

  Frank and his children reached the Massachusetts/New York border before Justin and Mariah showed up. His two children wanted to continue on but Frank insisted they wait. It was still hundreds of miles across New York State and most of Pennsylvania besides. Having a force of six people would be beneficial. Frank was also afraid that his little brother had no ability to defend himself. When they were growing up he had not hunted like his brothers and had never trained with firearms. Besides the weapons Frank had brought, both Mariah and Justin had guns, but Frank felt they did not know how to use them. Frank called on the sat phone and Justin reported that he was only a few miles away Frank made a camp in the woods next to the Catskills Mountains near Kingston, New York and watched the road below. When they saw Justin and Mariah ride up, they also observed other
youthful bike riders tailing the two from what they thought was a discreet distance. It could have just been coincidence but the young men on the bikes seemed to be watching the couple. Frank called Justin on the sat phone and told him to pull off the road and hide while they waited for the group to pass. They pulled off the road to the right and hid with their bikes in the woods. Frank moved down with his rifle and took a position on the other side of the road. When the tailing group got close it was obvious they were agitated because they did not know where Justin and Mariah had gone. Frank wanted to avoid conflict with this group. With about 20 adolescents and young adults the group outnumbered Frank’s family and several of the men had firearms as well. Not every conflict could be safely handled by force, and Frank hoped Justin had the sense to not use his gun when the men could not find him. The youngsters thought Justin and Mariah had outpaced them and headed down to road quickly to try to catch up. Once they were out of sight Frank moved Justin and Mariah back to his camp. They broke camp immediately and rode down the road the opposite direction from where the other riders had gone. Eventually they had enough distance and felt safe enough to camp off the road. With six people, they kept someone awake on watch all night, which they all realized would be normal when they reached their destination.

  When they continued on the next day Frank wanted to go through the mountains. While New York residents with transportation would also be heading there, the mountains at this point should still be less populated then the towns below. With no small children in their group the brothers and their families expected to be able to ride bicycles at least 100 miles each day and arrive at the farm within 2 days. Of course there would be several towns along the way, even on the back roads Frank had mapped out. If the group had to backtrack due to conditions in the towns or on the roads it could take them longer. They came to a couple of small towns that had roadblocks. The family found routes around each town without approaching the roadblocks.

  They all knew that when they reached the farm they would be turning away outsiders as well so they did not criticize the townspeople for protecting what they had. Frank’s was not the only group of travelers that had to divert around the barricaded towns. There were many people walking and they looked at the bikes and the backpacks the family members were wearing, with interest. He knew it was only a matter of time before people tried to take their bikes and supplies by force and they attempted to ride off fast. Justin was not so fast and one man grabbed at him and pulled him off his bike. Justin rooted in his backpack and grabbed his pistol, but did not know how to fire it and his assailant pulled his own and shot Justin. The shot hit Justin in the left forearm and Justin cried out in pain and staggered to the ground. He man was next aiming at Justin’s head, but never got off a shot as he fell to the ground with a bullet hole between his eyes. Mariah stood off to the side still holding the pistol she had used. Mariah and Frank’s children covered the rest of the onlookers as Frank tended to Justin’s wound. The bullet had gone clear through and had missed major arteries so Frank stopped the bleeding. He knew Justin would need more medical attention, David’s wife was a nurse and Frank called David and asked to speak to her. She gave him advice on how to dress the wound and urged them to get to the farm as fast as possible. The group returned to their bikes, Justin with some difficulty. They tried to make up some of the distance between their position and the farm. Frank’s opinion of Mariah had gone up as she had obviously known how to operate her weapon, and had not hesitated to take the shot. Frank had been pulling his own pistol out to defend his brother, but Mariah had beat him to the shot. Hitting the man in the head rather than going for a body shot was not advisable as it was too easy to miss, but Mariah had been dead on with her accuracy. Frank suspected she had practiced with the gun as she had no problems using it. When they got to the farm he resolved to teach his own children how to operate weapons well. They had been hunting and had shot weapons before but were by no means accurate. The biggest problem for young people, and Frank included his brother with that group, was that they did not realize how hard it would be to take a life, if it came down to that. Mariah’s recognition that simply pulling the gun was not enough in this situation, was something he wanted her to impart to his own children.

  Chapter 13

  Barry did not mind giving up his seat to his sister and her children, but he wished Megan had made it to safety. Of course no one at the farm knew her, and she wanted to stay with Barry so she could show up with him. Even though she had done well on the journey so far, Barry worried about her safety. He knew armed men with guns were between them and their destination. Beautiful girls like Megan drew attention even in the best of times, and with civil society ending she could become a target from people that believed laws did not apply anymore. He had not been close enough to hear what the prepper had said to her but he could imagine. Of course she could shoot, and Barry and Clint were heavily armed. They still had Clint’s Blazer which surprised Barry. He had lost his Jeep in the first few hundred miles and he did not even have to protect young children.

  Clem moved Evan and his family into the main house where he had 6 bedrooms. He had three mobile homes stationed behind the house where he planned to house families once everyone showed up, but since Evan had young children, Clem wanted them to stay together for now. David had built the house with dormitories in the basement shelter, but without a nuclear attack imminent, they wanted the families to be able to stay above ground and have more privacy. Sara helped her grandchildren and daughter in law get situated as Clem, David, and Evan walked outside. Clem had an EMP proof tractor and he had cleared 30 yards from the fence to provide a view of anyone that cleared the razor wire and tried to approach the house. There were already claymores installed below the fence in the cleared area and David had a supply to mine the perimeter around the rest of the compound. Now that children were showing up, David wanted to be sure everyone understood that the cleared area was mined and they should not approach it. Now that they had a few more adults at the farm, David wanted to start a 24 hour watch. The front of the house was the most obvious focal point because a dirt driveway led right to the gate. On the sides and the back of the acreage, thick woods and underbrush would make approaching the farm difficult. If anyone did try to get in that way, they still had to scale the fence and razor wire and try to make it through the minefield. David had established elevated watchtowers at the front and back of the compound. Until more of the family arrived, they agreed they would man the front watchtower around the clock, and only use the one in back during daytime hours. Although Pittsburgh was 150 miles away, David was sure most residents were out of food by now and would be leaving the city in droves. He relayed to Evan that his sister and her children were on a plane and should be there soon. Barry, his friend, and Julie’s husband were driving in from Missouri. His brothers from the East coast were coming in on bicycles from upstate New York. Evan could not even imagine his brother Justin riding a bike. He was not the type of person who rode bikes and he was surprised he even had one.

  David received a frantic phone call from Frank. Apparently Justin had been shot by an assailant that had tried to grab his bike and supplies. The threat was eliminated, but Frank did not know how to dress the wound and needed advice from Jennifer. Fortunately, Frank had a first aid kit in the go-bag the prepper had provided to them and with Jennifer’s help he was able to do an adequate field dressing. David knew infection was a real possibility and he urged them to get to the farm as soon as they could. He considered taking out a vehicle to pick them up, but there seemed to be many more people on the main roads and he was unsure if they would be able to safely reach the group without losing the vehicle.

  David had built a landing strip on the farm, mainly for Jim’s plane alone. Jim had helped design the self-sustaining aspects of the farm, as well as helping to build David’s Pittsburgh house with the hidden shelter full of supplies. Because the Allegheny Mountains rose above the farm to the east, the landing strip ran n
orth to south. Jim used the sat phone from the air to let David knew they were coming in. As the plane descended during his approach, several surprised onlookers walking on the main road noticed the first airplane they had seen in days. He landed safely and Julie and her children reunited with her brother and their parents. Jim and Kaitlyn stood off to the side. Not being related, they felt like the odd ones out. David had never met Kaitlyn before, but had heard that she piloted the plane while Jim shot bikers that were attacking his son and girlfriend in Utah. David thanked her and Jim profusely. He knew that Barry was much closer to safety, but if he ran into trouble he thought Jim might take the plane out to pick him up. David assigned one of the trailers to Jim and Kaitlyn so they could have some privacy. Jim mentioned that several onlookers had seen the plane landing and might be headed towards the farm. The gravel driveway leading to the place was gated with no trespassing signs evident, but David knew people on foot could simply walk around the gates. If they got to the wall surrounding the farm itself they would notice the trailers and the plane on the airstrip in the back. He did not want it to be common knowledge that his compound had multiple buildings and a working airplane. He only had enough shelter for his own family, once they arrived and David hoped people would heed his signs and not force him to turn them away. Some Pittsburgh refugees were probably desperate enough to try to take supplies by force and he hoped to turn them around before they approached his wall.