by Miles Maresh
The two men from the house admitted they were not policeman but pleaded to be allowed to keep one of their vehicles and their weapons. David wanted to give them the truck with the blood and bullet holes in it, but Jim protested and said it was a bad idea. He had interrogated the two injured gunmen on the driveway and found out they had been raiding survivors in the area since the EMP stealing their supplies and killing those who resisted. David did not know how Jim managed to convince them to reveal so much, but he knew how Army Rangers could be convincing. Killing local residents under the cover of law enforcement was not something Jim could stomach. He knew if they released the men they would still attack others, and even the farm again. David asked the two in the house if they had been raiding. The bogus sheriff argued that they were just asking for supplies, but he could tell they were lying. Jim said he would execute the remaining attackers by himself if no one wanted to help. David, Kaitlyn, and Mariah were the first to say they would assist, and they eliminated the men, burying their bodies in a mass grave outside the property.
Chapter 18
The best advantage of the golf cart was that less people wanted to take it away as opposed to larger EMP free vehicles. As Barry drove through Illinois most people they encountered were more interested in their supplies than the transport. Clint escorted the cart closely on the dirt bike and kept the rifle visible, few people were willing to challenge him. They made good time despite their low speed and entered Ohio. They headed in a northeastern direction to try to enter Pennsylvania north of Pittsburgh. They stopped for the night outside the small town of Marion Ohio. They found a wooded area where they could hide the golf cart and their sleeping bags. Clint went up a nearby hill and checked out the town through binoculars. Marion, like other towns they had encountered, had put up a roadblock to keep out non-residents. The problems was that the highway they were on went through the town and there were no other roads to get around the town without backtracking a hundred miles. With the smaller roads in more states of disrepair, the golf cart might not even make it through Megan and Barry supported the idea of asking the people at the roadblock to let them pass through. They were supportive of communities providing for themselves, because that’s what they were planning to do at the farm, and they just wanted to save hours of travel time by staying on the state highway.
Clint thought it was a bad idea, but in the morning the group drove the golf cart and rode the motorcycle up to the roadblock entering the town. As expected the townspeople running the blockade stopped them outside the barrier and told them to turn around. Barry called out that they just wanted to go through and were not looking for supplies. Two men with guns came out to the travelers and told them not to make a move for their own weapons. They asked what they had to trade for safe passage. Clint realized this was a shakedown and he glanced at his weapon. He realized he was outnumbered and outgunned and chose to go along for now. The group was almost out of MREs. They did have extra guns and ammunition and Barry still had the two krugerands Jim had given him for emergencies. He didn’t think cutting through this town was an emergency worth giving up his gold. Clint offered one of his rifles and some ammunition and the men agreed but said they would have to hold all their guns while they went through the town. They surrendered their weapons despite Clint’s protests and the golf cart was searched along with their bags. In Barry’s bag they found the two krugerands, and wanted to make a new deal. Clint said “We already had an agreement for the rifle. Driving on a state road through your backwater town for gold is out of the question.” The townspeople already had confiscated their guns and they said “The deal has changed. We still want your rifle, but also one of the gold pieces. It you complain we will take all your guns and both gold pieces. Barry said “We changed our minds about going through your town. Give us out weapons back and we will find another way.” “Too late” the men replied “You have already seen our town. We can’t let you bring in more outsiders.” They were not in knowledge of the town at all since they were stopped outside the roadblock. The trio was sure the men were going to take more of their supplies, because they were openly arguing about what to do with them. Barry tried to reason with the more agreeable men saying there was no need to take supplies from travelers that had no request except for safe passage They were still marched through town at gunpoint as one of the townspeople slowly drove the golf cart and another rode the motorcycle behind them. At the other end of town, a pickup raced past them and placed their weapons in the road about a mile away. When it came back they said. “If you turn back toward town, you will be shot.” They took the offered rifle and both gold pieces. They also wanted to strip the generator off the golf cart, or just take the cart itself but Barry appealed to their sense of humanity. He knew the men had families in this town and said “We are just trying to get home to our families. There are plenty of dangerous individuals out there, but we are not a threat to you because we have a place to go. When this is all over are you going to be comfortable telling your families the way you treated others? We have hundreds of miles left to go and need the cart. They eventually allowed them to keep their transportation. There was a disagreement within the men but one, who claimed to be the mayor stepped in. He said “Here’s your gold back. We had a deal and that’s not the type of people we’re going to be” They continued down the road and picked up their weapons. Barry and Megan were gratified that the majority of the townspeople had shown there were still good people left in the world. They had seen so much if the worst in humanity, it was good to know not everyone had changed. They knew if they were to overcome this apocalypse they would need to establish good relations with other survivors. Clint said “Let’s not try to get through any more roadblocks. That could have gone real bad.”
The group continued to travel on back roads roughly paralleling Interstate 71. They avoided all but the smallest of cites and checked ahead with binoculars, In Eastern Ohio they reached a more rural area that was home to many Amish people. They stayed on the road and went on by knowing the Amish were trying to survive just like the rest of humanity. The fact that they lived off the grid make them less likely to accept outsiders and the travelers realized that many city residents had already been turned away by the local people. They also realized that when they reached the farm, they would have to take the same actions the Amish were forced to do. It was just not possible to feed masses of people without putting those close to you at risk.
The group entered Pennsylvania near the small city of Meadville although they stayed on back roads to avoid entering the city itself. With the farm only fifty miles away on the western edge of the Allegheny National Forest, many Meadville residents had fled to the country once they ran out of food and drinkable water in town. Many small streams that were tributaries of the Allegheny River ran through David’s land he also had two wells on his property. He did not know if the masses of city residents were polluting the river’s water supply so he instructed the family to only use the well water for now. To avoid all the campers and squatters Barry called his father on the sat phone. David sent Jim and Clem out in the Hummer to meet the group. Because both the golf cart and the motorcycle would be useful on the farm, The Hummer followed the vehicles as they went the few remaining miles. When they arrived David breathed a sigh of relief. The entire family and the friends they had invited had now made it to safety without anyone suffering serious injury. Barry and Megan were assigned to share a trailer with Justin and Mariah while Clint moved into the main house where his wife and small children were already present.
Chapter 19
David met with the new arrivals. Clint, he had met before at his sister’s wedding and family gatherings. He knew he would be an asset to security as Jim had recounted his rescue in Joplin. David had never met Megan before and was surprised when he saw her. He had taught both of his children to be accepting of different cultures and races but Barry had never mentioned that his girlfriend of two years was black. She was beautiful, intelligent and viv
acious and he could see why Barry fell for her. When they met, Megan seemed anxious and he asked her why. She recounted that she had a mother and 10 year old brother in Chicago. She had not heard from them since the EMP hit and while she enjoyed the safety of David’s farm, she said she was going to go to Chicago to look for her family. She had already told Barry and he had insisted on going with her. She said if she found her family she would find a safe place for them. She knew David’s farm was not set up to take in unlimited numbers of refugees and she was not family. She just wanted supplies and a vehicle to get close to Chicago. Barry said he would stay with her regardless of what she found in Chicago, and David who just got his son back, now feared that he would not return. David insisted that they allow him to help more than just sending her out with a vehicle and supplies. With the amount of military trained individuals at the farm getting Megan’s family to safety had a better chance of success if they helped.
David assured Megan that her family would be welcome at the farm as well. Anyone that was important to the family as Megan was to Barry was to David just as important as his son himself. There wasn’t much more dangerous than Chicago, and he wondered why they had not stopped there on the way back. He did realize that if Chicago was as dangerous as he feared, it was better that they had avoided it. They had went through southern Illinois on the trip to the farm and Megan had been silent. She did not think Barry and Clint needed to be sidetracked and had not mentioned her family. Barry had known her family details of course that it had not occurred to him to ask how they were doing, and he was somewhat ashamed at his oversight. David knew how dangerous Chicago was going to be and sending out his son and girlfriend in a vehicle was even more dangerous. He had many vehicles in the compound, but keeping one on the road on a long road trip without an armed guard was almost impossible. The only vehicle that had made it across the country was Jim’s airplane and he asked Jim if he would assist in this journey.
Jim said he would help but he wanted to work on the logistics first. As a well-known prepper with national connections Jim thought he could get help from his network. Despite the fact that a prepper friend had tried to steal his plane in Joplin, he felt most preppers looked out for each other and their families. He got the details from Megan of where their Chicago address was, where her mother had worked, and any alternate addresses that may have gone to. Megan’s mother Mary, was 38 years old and worked as a teacher in an inner city Chicago neighborhood. Although Megan was her pride and joy, being accepted to Stanford on a full academic scholarship, she was equally devoted to her son, Andre, and her students in the neighborhood she lived and taught in. Her father was not in the picture, Megan didn’t mention him and Jim didn’t ask. Megan was sure her mother was still in the house she had grown up in. Although criminal elements were evident in the area, it was an unbroken rule that you did not mess with teachers, especially the ones at local schools. Of course she realized this situation was more severe and long-lasting, and she feared her family may have ran out of food and water. The gangs in the area were not going to be allowing in outsiders as they wanted to control their territory. David knew it would have to be a guerilla style attack, and with Jim and himself they had two ex-military men who had experience in clandestine operations.
Jim had sat phone communications with several preppers in the Chicago area, the first one said his family was in the shelter for the duration as gangs were dueling for control of Chicago. He wasn’t going to come up until after the winter when gangs would hopefully have died out from exposure and lack of food. Jim told him, it was more likely that everyone but the gangs would perish in the winter. The next prepper he called had connections with the gangs and sent out the message that he was looking for Mary Rice and her son Andre. The report came back that Mary’s apartment building had become too dangerous as gangs collected food and supplies going door to door. Mary and Andre had fled to a Catholic church in the area, Megan knew her mother wasn’t very religious, but churches were another institution that gangs were supposed to leave alone.
Jim had found a landing strip for the plane 10 miles outside of Chicago. It was still in the suburbs and the plane was sure to be noticed as it landed. He decided to have Kaitlyn drop off the rescue party and then move the plane to a more isolated area. She would sit in the plane with a sat phone and fly to the closer strip to recover Megan her family when called. Jim’s plane only held 4 passengers so they would have to make two trips going back. If successful, David said they would fly Megan’s family back and he and Jim could hole up someplace in the interim. Kaitlyn would fly the plane, Megan would help with the recovery knowing the area well and David and Jim went as their military experience gave them an edge in surveillance and shooting ability. Barry was upset that he wasn’t going, but he understood the need to have experience in military logistics. He had spent enough time with his father and Jim to know that they gave the group the best chance at a successful extraction.
Jim helped Megan transcribe a note to her mother and her brother. She told them to stay in the church, she was coming with help to get them out of the area. Jim’s Chicago prepper friend promised he would deliver the note himself to prevent the gangs from knowing that Mary was leaving and that outsiders were coming in to aid her. It was a fluid situation and while Megan knew the priest, she wanted everyone in the church to be aware the armed men with her were not a threat to them. With the plane trip 500 miles each way Jim found another prepper to deliver fuel to the isolated airstrip and they refueled before they went to the closer area. As the plane touched down in the suburban area, residents came out to see the first plane they had noticed in weeks. They hoped it was the government coming in to aid them, but the plane barely stopped. Two men and a young lady, all armed and wearing camouflage clothing jumped out of the plane which turned around and took off again. The passengers ran to a grove of trees and disappeared from view. Jim took point, with Megan in the middle and David covered the rear as they stayed in cover, but quickly moved toward the inner city 10 miles ahead.
As they got closer to the church, Jim and David attached suppressors to their pistols and the one that Megan was carrying. Before leaving the farm. David had given her a crash course on the gun and was pleased at how quickly she picked things up. The streets were being patrolled by gang members but David noted that their discipline was lacking as they laughed and joked among themselves, paying no attention to security. There was small group of gangbangers outside the front of the church. It was known to be feeding residents and even the lower echelon gangsters were going hungry. They were more interested in getting food for themselves, and not sharing with the rest of their group so they stationed themselves outside and allowed no one to leave or enter. In exchange for what they claimed was security, they told the priest he would have to bring them food and water. They didn’t know how much supplies the church had but as long as they were getting fed, they would stay. Some of the members of the group wanted to storm the church and take all the supplies, but even some gangsters were religious and felt it was wrong to invade a church. Because the gangsters were in front of the church David and Megan circled around to the back door as Jim kept an eye on the people in front.
At the back door of the rectory. Two gangsters sat on the ground feasting on food they had gotten from the priest. Megan knew one of the men from her high school, and had never thought he was in a gang, He was not the type of person to harm anyone and she was sure he only joined the gang for the security. He was more of an acquaintance than a friend, but they has taken many classes together and she was sure that he would remember her. She agreed with David that she would try to talk her way in as he covered her approach. As she emerged from cover she was noticed by both men who scrambled to their feet, pointing their weapons. “Stop” commanded Megan’s ex-classmate, who she remembered was named DeShawn. The other gangster said “Shit, it’s a girl. And a fine one at that” “Hello DeShawn,” Megan said coolly. When did you become a gangbanger? Deshawn recognized her
and replied “You gotta do what you gotta do. What are you doing out here? It’s dangerous” he looked angrily at his friend who was leering at Megan. “Stop staring at her like that, asshole, I know her.” “My mother and brother are inside, I came to get them out of the city.” “That’s impossible” DeShawn sputtered. “We have this city patrolled. I know what they do to pretty girls. Why don’t you just hang around and let me hide you.” Megan replied “The city is not patrolled that well. I walked right up to you and my friends have you covered.” David and Jim emerged from the shadows pointing suppressed pistols at the two thugs. For a fleeting instant she though the two young wannabes were going to raise their rifles, but they looked at Jim and David and knew they would never get off a shot. They tied and gagged the two men and dragged them out of sight behind the rectory as Megan knocked on the door.
Megan was recognized by the priest, Father Dominic, and was ushered into the rectory. David and Jim had planned to wait outside, but Dominic realizing they were with Megan said they needed to come in to stay out of sight. There were several other women there but Megan immediately saw her mother and rushed into her arms. “What are you doing here” her mother said “You should have stayed in California.” Megan replied. “California is no better off. This is a global catastrophe. My friends have a safe place and have offered room for you and Andre” She introduced David, as Barry’s father. Mary had not met the young man, but knew Megan was very close to him. She said “We are safe here in the church. I don’t think the gangs will just let us leave.” She looked at Megan and continued “They are doing some horrible things to young females, you cannot let them see you.” The priest stepped in and said “We are only safe here until we run out of food. In a few weeks we will no longer be able to feed the people inside, much less the gangs outside. You need to leave to be with your family.” he gestured at David and Jim “I think these two men can handle the gangsters.” Mary was still reticent to leave the other women and children behind, but she realized that sneaking themselves out was going to be difficult enough. They decided to leave after it got dark. In response to Mary’s concern over leaving others to fend for themselves, David used his sat phone to contact local preppers. They agreed to help provide the church with supplies, but did not want them to keep sharing with the gangsters. David told them that taking down the gang network in this area was going to be difficult. He did not have room in his compound for all the people in this church even if it had been close enough for them to travel to, but he knew some local individuals who had similar settlements. He encouraged his friends to help evacuate the church to a more secure area.
