by Miles Maresh
Dave and his wife Diane had two children, 12 year old Robert and 10 year old Ruth. Diane was an attorney by trade and used to be a district attorney in Los Angeles. She had went into private practice when the family bought the house in the suburbs of Bakersfield. Dave had bought the house on Bakersfield 6 years earlier when he had left a job with a major airline to become a crop-duster pilot. Although there was plenty of work for crop-dusters in California Dave occasionally took work in Texas from large commercial farms that paid better. Diane did not like Dave leaving but it was better than his job as an airline pilot when he was gone the majority of the time. At least when Dave wasn’t on contract work in Texas he was home every night and could attend his children’s school events. The house was in the foothills outside Bakersfield and sat on about 3 acres of land. Many of Dave’s neighbors farmed small plots and land and kept some horses and livestock. Dave wanted to do the same but did not yet because he and his wife both worked. The gated, walled community even had a small runway where Dave and a few other local pilots could land their planes. Dave kept 2 crop-dusters in his barn, although one was more of a parts department for the other plane.
The morning of the EMP Diane had been at home getting her children ready for the school bus. When the power went out it was an inconvenience for her. Went the bus did not show up for her children she walked out to the street. There were a few cars stalled in the middle of the road which seemed odd, but Diane told her children to get in the car and she would drive them to school on the way to her office. When her car wouldn’t start she started to worry. Although she was not a believer in prepping she had always though living in a semi-rural area had to be safer for her family. Because they were a long way from stores she kept a larger supply of food on hand than most people, but it was not nearly enough to handle a long term shortage. Diane knew what an EMP was, but like most people did not think it was something that would really happen. Diane hoped the power would come back on but with cars not working and the screens on all electronic devices dark she feared that this might be something that lasted awhile. To add to her worries, Dave was on a contract assignment in Texas. The crop-duster he had used to transport himself to the job might not be working anymore. She did not know if the plane had computer chips that could be fried if this was an EMP. Usually she could pull out her cell phone and call him but her phone, and those of her children were all apparently affected by this event. Diane went to visit several neighbors who were all in the same condition. One older man had a 1960s Pontiac that was still running. He already had tried to go to a grocery store in it, but said the place was overrun, and he was lucky to escape without losing his car.
A couple days went by and Diane had the children work in the small garden she had established behind the house. Between what she had on hand and what she could grow and harvest, she had maybe a month of food left. This worried her greatly because she had heard EMP effects could last for years. She heard through a neighbor that a National Guard unit had showed up to provide security for the community. She observed them moving into a few vacant houses and it looked more like a biker gang than a military unit. They did not have uniforms and the military type vehicles they had did not have military insignias. At first Diane was happy to provide meals for the guard. They built guard posts and watchtowers by the main gate and were turning away people that were not residents. However, they were not letting residents leave either, and went door to door to collect food and weapons. They said residents did not need weapons because they were providing security. They said all food would be collected and stored in a central area to be rationed and shared by everyone. They told people with livestock and farms to turn over their produce and any animals that were butchered. Diane had her extra food and weapons in a hidden room behind a false wall. She was willing to help her neighbors, but not some non-residents in a fake National Guard unit. She left 2 guns out and a small supply of food. The soldiers that confiscated that said because she had so little they would assign her and the children to work on the community farm they were starting. When she refused to show up for the farm work guardsmen with guns came and escorted her and her children to the farm. Most of the neighbors were there and the guard was standing around with guns shouting directions. The guardsmen were observed eating heartily while they gave meager amounts of food to the workers. Diane knew these men were not really in the military. She wanted to revolt but the guard was heavily armed, she did not have anyplace else to go, and had a dwindling supply of food.
Dave left and Mike’s family begin loading Mike’s truck and Emily’s Jeep with supplies from their shelters. The idea was to get the cabin started and then make other trips to move the remainder of their supplies. The house was not safe and even with the shelters they could not stay in them forever. As they were shuttling supplies form the shelter to the garaged vehicles Mike hear a knock on the front door. He looked through the peephole and saw Delores Newhouse and his neighbor Janet Douglas. Emily had told Mike that Janet’s husband had never come from his job when the EMP hit. Mike assumed he was dead by this time. He answered the door and Delores said “I want my husband”. Mike said “I’m sorry, but your husband threatened the lives of my family. If I release him now he will be back to finish the job.” Delores responded “I won’t allow that to happen, we will leave town. There is no food here anyways.” Mike responded “I need to hear that from Rick. I will release him in a day or two. He is unharmed except for a bump on his head. He had pulled a gun on my wife and son. He is lucky to be alive.” Janet said “I am glad you are back Mike. We are completely out of food and water. My son is hungry, my husband is missing and Emily refuses to be neighborly.” Delores was watching interested. Mike knew if he helped even one person there would be no end to it. He said “We are out of food too. I have three children and don’t know where I will feed them either. I wish you the best”. He closed the door without waiting for a response. He make sure the women had left the area, checked on Rick who was still tied up in the empty shed and continued to load supplies.
Chapter Thirteen
By the next morning both vehicles were loaded. Mike secured the shelters which still contained the vast majority of the family’s supplies He replaced the 3 feet of dirt the foundation and the carpet which covered the trap doors into their shelters. He wasn’t planning on being gone for long. After they settled in the cabin Mike and Trevor would come back and get more supplies. Mike went back to the shed and released Rick. He told him to run home and leave the area. If he saw him again Mike assured him, he would be killed on sight. After Rick left the family pulled both vehicles out of the garage and locked the house. They had no assurances that the house would remain secure but the shelters were well hidden and unknown to the neighbors. Mike even left a few supplies in the kitchen to appease people who broke in. When going to the cabin in the past Mike would take I-17 to the Crown King exit. Mike’s cabin was higher in the Mountains than Crown King which was almost a tourist destination. Mike was sure his running and well provisioned vehicles would obtain far too much interest even if the roads were clear. He decided to go the back way through Castle Hot Springs and avoid Crown King entirely. The route went through small ghost towns and was mostly only accessible with 4 wheel drive vehicles. It was all dirt roads and not maintained by the government. Mike was concerned that many Phoenix residents had already left the city and moved into the ghost towns in the foothills, however the road leading north towards the mountains was much rougher and he planned to blow through the ghost towns fast and start making his way to the cabin.
Mike had bought the cabin ten years earlier from the original builder who abandoned the area after a huge landslide cut off access to his property. Mike didn’t even bother trying to clear the massive piles of rocks and debris that had blocked the road. He carefully plotted a path through the maze. Anyone trying to make it over the slide without a path would probably end up on the canyon floor below. When arriving or leaving the cabin Mike always used the winch in his tr
uck to move some large boulders into the path. Other drivers that made it that far would think it was a dead end. Once Mike’s truck and Emily’s Jeep made it over the peak of the landslide, Mike replaced the boulders and the road curved to the left around some trees. When they rounded the curve the cabin lay in sight in a small clearing. The areas to the right and the back led to cliff into a large canyon. Across the canyon was the national forest. To the left the national forest continued. A small stream meandered around the back of the house leading to a pond and a waterfall over the cliff. The forest was vast and thick. Mike knew from past experience that he could travel many miles through it without any other sign of habitation or roads.
The Cabin itself had 3 bedrooms not counting the loft which ran the length of the structure. There was indoor plumbing running off large water tanks which were connected to the stream. The house could be heated with a large brick fireplace in the center of the building. The fireplace doubled as a wood burning stove. The house was powered by propane but Mike knew as time went on propane would become in short supply. He had windmills already set up he just needed to install the blades and hook it up to the batteries in the cabin’s cellar. He also planned to bring his solar panels from his house in Phoenix and install them up here. The House was furnished and from past excursions Trevor had his own bedroom while Cheryl and Sydney shared one. Mike realized that if Dave and his family showed up they would need more room. The upstairs loft could easily be divided into separate bedrooms and Mike planned to bring beds and mattresses up from Phoenix. All cabin residents would be required to use the outhouse in the back until Mike built a septic tank to allow the inside toilets to flush. It was September and Mike hoped to have that done before it got cold. In the mountains, even October would be cold and snow could be expected by November. No one was going to be happy with a nighttime trip to the outhouse in the cold and snow.
Although the children had been at the cabin for vacations before they realized this stay was going to be longer and much more difficult. Emily and Mike allowed them to settle in on arrival day, but the next day they had a list of chores for them to do. Mike was going to take Trevor with him on a run to the Phoenix house. They would bring back more supplies and furniture as well as checking to see if the security of the house had been compromised. Cheryl and Sydney were expected to work in the garden and extend it. Without a permanent resident the garden was overrun with weeds and they needed it to be cleared for planting as soon as the first winter was over. The next chore was to boil water. Although their tanks were kept full with water from the stream the water for drinking needed to be boiled to kill microorganisms. Emily kept the fire in the wood burning stove going and boiled water throughout the day. The girl’s job once the water cooled was to pour it into gallon jugs Mike had stored for that purpose. Although the supplies included numerous cases of bottled water there was no need to use that yet with winter coming and the pond likely to freeze.
Mike and Trevor left early in the morning as soon as it was light enough to see the path over the landslide. Mike wanted to take I-17 back into town to see how it was. He also didn’t want the squatters in the ghost towns in the foothills to see him coming and going a lot. Eventually they might realize he lived in the mountains and come looking for him. Taking the more traveled route had its own problems. but Mike had Trevor riding shotgun and they were both well-armed. There was a lot of foot traffic and even a few vehicles in the mountain town of Crown King. Unlike, in the past when this was a touristy weekend destination these people looked like they were escaping the mayhem in the city and were planning on staying There were tents and even a few travel trailers set up on the little open area in the heavy forest,. As mountain cities go Crown King did not have many buildings or even camping sites. Mike hoped people moved on north so no one accidentally found his hidden, but by no means invisible cabin. Once back he told Trevor they would work on defending the site better. Once the pair reached the desert towns of Bumble Bee and Cleator Mike started to see more working vehicles, A lot of old trucks pulling travel trailers as well as some older motorhomes that were immune to the EMP were parked along the road, no doubt causing distress to the longtime residents. Mike stopped to talk to one man sitting outside his motorhome. The man asked where they were heading and Mike replied “Phoenix”. The man said there was a roadblock up by the interstate and he didn’t think it was a safe drive. A mile before they reached the interstate Trevor who was manning the binoculars told Mike to stop. He passed the binoculars to Mike and said “It looks like a road block.” Mike looked at the scene and noticed a group of armed men stopping cars on the interstate. A few of the cars were let through with apparently some sort of payment. Other cars were being confiscated and the owners told to walk away. Then Mike saw something that made his blood run cold. The men running the roadblock were shooting some of the motorists to obtain their working vehicles and possessions. They were pulling the women off to the side and forcing them into the back of a cargo van. Mike could only imagine what they had planned for their captives and he resolved to do what he could. He passed the binoculars to Trevor without a word. After Trevor reviewed the same things he said “We have to do something. These women are going to be raped and they are killing innocent people indiscriminately.” Mike said “Let’s pull the truck off the road and go up on foot.” Mike and Trevor both had AK 47s from Mike’s gun collection. They pulled the truck well off the road and covered it with brush.
With fully automatic weapons Mike and Trevor could take the 6-8 men out as soon as they got in range. Unfortunately the van with the captive women was right in the line of fire. They decided to take the rifles off automatic fire put silencers, on and take the men out with single shots. Mike was an expert shot and from the concealed positions he and Trevor had taken he could probably shoot 2 of the men in the head before they realized what was happening. Trevor had spent enough time on the gun range to be accurate, but Mike didn’t know what it would be like shooting men for the first time. He told Trevor he would take the two men closest to the road block and Trevor should take one of the men from the back side. Taking single shots would also let them know what type of firepower the group had and with the silencers they would not would not give their position away. The men had a number of cars around the roadblock to hide behind so Mike took a position where he would be able to flank the cars and take out men from the side. The van with the captive women was out of the immediate line of fire but if men hid behind it Mike would have to reconsider. Hopefully Mike and Trevor would be able to take out all the men before they reached the van
Mike gave Trevor a visible count of three and they both opened fire at the same time, Mike’s targets had been mostly stationary and he was able to make both head shots within a second of each other. He heard Trevor’s rifle fire 3 times and realized his son’s target had not gone down with the first shot He glanced at Trevor who silently mouthed back “got him”. Mike looked through the scope and saw the 4 men were behind cars 2 in front of the van and 2 behind. Even though Mike and Trevor had used silencers seeing some of their group fall convinced the men they were under attack. The men had no idea where the shots had come from and the ones behind the van put their backs to Trevor as they scanned the other side where there seemed to be more cover. Mike had a clear shot at the men in front of the van but they were obscuring each other. Mike mouthed to Trevor “auto” and both men put their rifles back on automatic fire. Both men opened fire and a hail of bullets took out the rest of the roadblock crew.
Mike and Trevor approached the scene carefully. Although they had taken down all the gunmen they had seen there might be others they had missed, or one of the down might still be able to fire a gun at them. They didn’t have to worry. When they got closer they could see that 3 of the men had fallen with clean head shots and the others had expired from the multitude of shots take from the automatic weapons. They scouted the scene and did not find any more men that had remained hidden. Mike next opened up the back of the ca
rgo van. Three women in their 20s or 30s were cowering in the back along with a pair of teenage girls about the same ages as Mike’s daughters. Trevor sensed that the women were fearful that they were part of the gang and said “You can come out. We are not here to harm you.” The women carefully exited. When the saw the bodies of their captors they were startled but realized the dead men had planned a horrible fate for them. The older women ran to the side of the room where their husbands and children’s bodies lay. Mike and Trevor realized that rescuing the women was necessary, but it would hardly ease their grief. Mike and Trevor talked to the teenage girls and found they were sisters. They had been headed for their grandparents’ house in Sedona when they were ran off the road by the men at the roadblock. They were anxious to get back on the road and Mike found one of the confiscated vehicle that had not taken too many bullets. He gassed it up for them. Before they left he warned them that their grandparents place may not be safe or have any more resources than their house in Phoenix. They said they still needed to find out and Mike wished them well and sent them on their way. The older women were unrelated, but had all lost family members at the roadblock. One of the women had a cabin in the forest near Flagstaff and invited the others to come with her for now. Mike got 2 more vehicles working and gave the women weapons and ammunition. He said he would like to do more but his family was waiting for him. The women assured him that they had done more than they could ever expect. Mike and Trevor expressed their deepest condolences over their losses and they headed south to Phoenix.
