by Steven Smith
When they had built Stonemont, he had designed his office, his lair, as Kelly jokingly called it, to span the west side, with windows on both the front and back of the house, and more windows on the west end bracketing a large stone fireplace in the middle. This way, he could keep an eye on the property in three directions by simply walking across the room. Floor to ceiling shelves on each side of the doorway on the east wall held the books he had accumulated over the years, spanning a wide variety of subjects with a major focus on history and politics, and pairs of wing back chairs with occasional tables sat in front of both the north and south windows. Due to his dislike for desks, three deep leather couches formed a horseshoe facing the fireplace.
It had been a month since they had gone to the churches and a lot had been accomplished in that time. In a few minutes, the others would arrive for a situational meeting, each bringing the others up to date on their areas of responsibility. They worked closely together on most days anyway, but he knew that things could slip through the cracks and people could be left out of important loops if they didn't sit down regularly to share their progress, needs and concerns with each other.
As he waited, he thought he could almost imagine that the recent past hadn't happened, that things were as they always had been. They had planned and prepared Stonemont to accomplish just that and, for the most part, they had succeeded. Now, the challenge would be to see what they could build from here on.
The door opened and Kelly came in carrying a spiral notebook. "Hi honey. Whatcha doin'?"
He smiled, patting the spot on the couch next to him. "Waiting for a good-looking blonde to come along so I can corrupt her."
She laughed, sitting down where he had patted. "I think you took care of that years ago, but I could always use a refresher."
He chuckled back at her. "How did I get so lucky?"
She leaned over and gave him a kiss. "It wasn’t luck. It was a devious plan on my part."
The door opened as they were about to kiss again. "Finally, I walk in and catch you playing handsies with your own wife."
"Great timing, Christian. Is this why you're an only child?"
Christian laughed. "My parents always told me it was because I was so perfect they knew they couldn't be satisfied with any others, but now that I think about it you might have a point." He sat down on the sofa to the right of theirs and stretched. "But I know you love me anyway." He winked at Kelly.
Jim was about to reply when the others arrived. Mike took a seat with Christian, and Bill and Ann took the remaining sofa.
"Pardon the stocking feet," said Bill. "We left our boots and ponchos in the mud room. It’s a good day if you're a duck."
"Or a bean," added Ann.
Jim chuckled. "You're making me hungry. There's coffee here if anybody wants some. Except for Christian. None for him. He's been getting smart with his uncle."
The small talk continued until everyone got situated and Jim started the meeting.
“It's been a busy month and I think, all and all, we're doing pretty well. I'm sure there are some things we can improve on, so let's get started. Kelly, as head of operations, let's have you start."
Kelly opened her notebook. "The two main areas are people and supplies. On the people side, we now have twenty-two families living in tents in the compound, three from Family Church and the remainder are those our scout parties came into contact with on their probes." She nodded at Mike, who ran the scout teams. "In addition, we have four single men and two single women. So far, everything seems to be working out fairly smoothly. Most are pitching in and working, and getting along well with each other."
"Most?" asked Jim.
Kelly nodded. "There are two families who seem to be having some problems understanding the expectations here.” She looked at a page in her notebook. “The first are Michael and Linda Kant. They have two teenage boys."
"What's their problem?"
"General attitude, basically. The adults both seem to be very opinionated, argumentative types. They rub people the wrong way, and apparently argue with each other pretty loudly late at night. When people are living close together in tents, this becomes a problem. Michael works okay, but Linda seems to do more sitting and talking than working."
Jim nodded. "How about their kids?"
"Someone suspects the older one of stealing. No apparent problems with the younger one except for kind of an attitude."
Jim looked at Christian. "We'll have a talk with them." Christian nodded. "What about the other one?"
Kelly again looked at her notebook. "Tom and Patty Cramer. Two daughters about ten and twelve."
"And their problem?"
"Tom works hard sometimes and sometimes doesn't. Patty thinks she and her girls are special. She doesn't like to get dirty, but talks a lot and seems to be trying to form a social circle around her."
Jim looked at Christian. "Them too."
"You seem to have pretty good information," said Bill, his eyebrows raised in a question.
Jim thought for a minute, deciding how much information to reveal. "One of the families who came in are friends of ours. We offered to put them up in the house, but when we discussed the difficulties of filtering newcomers they volunteered to stay in the tents and keep us informed about what was going on there, at least until the fall." He smiled at Bill. "You must have been a pretty good judge, the way you saw that."
"And you must have been a pretty good whatever you were," Bill replied, his statement implying a question he'd been wondering about.
Jim shrugged. "Maybe. Anyway, back to you Kelly."
"Our scouts continue to make contact with outsiders, who are becoming more marginal, by which I mean in worse shape and needing more care. One of the women is a nurse practitioner, and we're setting up a clinic, but we are going to need more medical help. Also, some recent arrivals have indicated that they had heard about us, so the word may be out and we might be dealing with a greater influx soon.”
She looked at her notebook again. "On the supplies side, our fields seem to be coming along nicely. We don't know what the yield will be yet, but I think we should till all available acres for winter wheat and future plantings.
“Finding that Wal-Mart truck, and Christian's idea to look for trucks and bring them in has been a godsend. So far, we have nine trailers in the compound. Two from Wal-Mart, one Home Depot, one Del Monte foods, one Hy-Vee grocery, three from national haulers with mixed or unknown loads, and one tanker of diesel fuel that Ralph says is about three quarters full. We haven't been able to go through them all yet, but just figure department, hardware and grocery stores on wheels. When we find a truck, Ralph goes out with his old Peterbuilt, jacks up the trailer, pulls the tractor out with his, hooks his up and brings it in. He gets a ten percent interest in every load he brings in."
"Ten percent doesn't sound like much," said Ann.
"We offered him twenty-five, but he said he was just driving a truck so ten would be plenty," replied Kelly. "He's a good man and does business like in the old days. Also, he found and fixed up another old truck and gave it to us, for which we will give him ten percent of whatever we bring in with it."
"On the diesel, how many gallons is that and what's it's storage capability?" Jim asked.
"Ralph says the average tanker will hold about eight thousand gallons, so say six thousand. Stability, he says, could be anywhere from one to five years, depending on if we can find certain additives."
Jim nodded. "Very good. Ann, how about energy and engineering?"
Ann opened her folder, but spoke from memory. "We have almost all of the solar panels operational, and they are more than adequate to power the existing lighting and security systems. The current battery banks are also adequate, and we have some spares, but I would suggest that deep cycle batteries be high on the acquisitions list in order to be ready for expansion.
"The existing wind turbines aren't really needed right now, but will come into play when the days get shorter and
the wind picks up during the colder months. We have three more in storage, but no reason not to pick up more if we run across them. Same goes for solar panels, charge controllers and inverters. Some will be fried, but hopefully some won't be. It depends on where and how they were stored. Plus, we should also pick up all the low voltage lights and wire we can.
She looked down at her notes. "On water, I've completed the ram pumps which bring water up from the creek to the tanks on the hill. This gives us gravity fed running water to the main house, the guest house, the compound camp and the fields for irrigation. Pipes to the houses and the camp are filtered, but I'd still suggest that all water for drinking, cooking or washing dishes be run through the Berkeys and Sawyers."
Jim nodded. "Sounds good, Ann. Any specific ideas on where to look for these things?"
"For the low voltage wire and consumer quality lights and fixtures, the big box stores are a start. Also, the hardware and lawn care stores. We're not going to find professional quality stuff there, but it's a start. Some of the inverters and charge controllers will be shot, but some may not be. For batteries, big box and automotive stores. They can be either six-volt or twelve-volt, but they have to be deep cycle, made to charge and discharge repeatedly. Regular car batteries won't do."
"Okay." Jim said, turning to Christian. "What's our security situation?"
"We're well covered as far as lights and alarms go. I agree with Ann about getting as many more lights as possible, but for now we're in good shape. The thing that most concerns me now is our perimeter and manpower. The dogs, wireless alarms and trip-wired lights will give us warning if intruders get within a couple hundred yards of the compound, the dogs sometimes farther out, but that's just warning, not perimeter protection. I think we need to consider building fortifications around the compound and channeling obstructions farther out."
"What's that?" asked Bill. "Channeling obstructions?"
"It's impossible to build a defensible wall around the entire property," explained Christian. "Instead, by using the natural terrain and constructing strategically placed barriers, we can direct any approach or attack along certain channels which we can more easily defend. It won't fool or deter experienced fighters, but it simplifies things in most cases and allows a small force to defend a larger area."
Bill nodded in understanding and Christian continued. "As Kelly said, we can probably expect more people to head our way as they hear about us. Some will be good folks and some won't. Most will probably be coming up the road, and I don't like the fact that they can get right up to our front gate before we make contact with them.
“Our place is about midpoint of the top of a "T", with the Samuels' place at the west end and the Eddington's at the east. I think we should put a reception point, maybe just an empty trailer for now, about a half mile down the approach road, where we can stop and filter any newcomers before they get to our main gate. Longer term, the main gate needs to be fortified along with the rest of the compound. Also, since the Eddingtons haven't come back, I think we should consider their place as possibly abandoned and put a caretaker in there for security.”
He checked his notes. "Finally, manpower. Currently, we're able to keep a one person watch from dusk till dawn, but we really need at least two and ideally more. Mike and I are working with some guys we think may be suited for the security and scout teams, and we're cross training them for both. We're going to start folding them into the watch rotation as seconds, which will allow us to see how they do and let everyone get to know them and get a feel for them. Now, Jim, this is up to you, but I would like every able adult from eighteen on up to be scheduled into the rotation."
Jim nodded. "I think that's a good idea. I don't want to require anyone to serve in security or scouts because some people just aren't cut out for it, but taking turns at watch makes sense. You and Mike put together a quick training class for it and start getting everyone in the rotation right away. It will give us a better look at them too. Anything else?"
Christian shook his head. "That's it for now."
"Okay, start implementing everything you've mentioned. I'll think about who to put in the Eddington's place, and I have one thing to add for you. Dogs."
"Dogs?"
"Uh huh. You can't beat dogs for making noise and going after what they don't know. Max and Pink do a great job, but we need more. There are a lot of loose dogs around now and they'll be going wild pretty soon. Let’s get as many German Shepherds and Rottweilers as we can and start a breeding and training program."
"Just those two breeds?" asked Christian.
"Yeah, and I want them mixed. That gives a dog with the best traits of both, but heavier than a purebred shepherd. That's what Max and Pink are. We could fold in Belgian Tervaruns and Malinois if we come across any, but I doubt we will. I want the natural traits and instincts of the Shepherds and Rotts, and the Belgians are close."
Bill spoke up. "Aren't Rottweilers dangerous?" he asked.
Jim shook his head. "No. They got a bad rap from a movie years ago and some morons who raised them to be mean because they wanted a tough dog, but they're very family and kid friendly. They were originally bred as butcher's dogs in Germany, to herd livestock and pull the butcher's heavy carts, and their loyalty, intelligence and natural protective instincts are second only to Shepherds. Breeding them with Shepherds gives you a great dog with great instincts.”
He turned to Mike. “How are we doing with weapons and the scouts?"
Mike leaned forward, resting his forearms on his thighs. "I'll start with weapons. We hit a jackpot with Bass Pro a couple weeks ago. It had already been entered, probably numerous times, but obviously not by groups who came prepared to stock for the long haul. All the survival food was gone, of course, and they had made a bit of a mess. All the handguns in the glass cases were gone, but most of the long guns were still there. Somebody had run a chain through them in addition to the normal locks, and I guess the previous visitors weren't as prepared as we were with bolt cutters. Plus, we were able to open the gun room in back.
He checked a pad in front of him. "Total count was forty-three AR platform rifles, twenty-nine in 5.56, eight in .223 and six in .308. It's good to have them all, especially the .308s, but we'll need to be careful to keep the 5.56 and .223 separate."
"Why is that?" asked Bill.
"They're the same caliber," replied Mike, "but different chambering characteristics. You can run .223 through a 5.56 chambered weapon but you don't want to do it the other way around too much."
Bill nodded as if he understood and Mike continued.
"We also got sixty-two shotguns, mostly in twelve gauge but some in twenty and .410, fifty-six bolt action and semi-autos in .308, 30.06, 30-30, .243, .270, .22 and a few others, eighty-six pellet rifles, and more ammo than we've been able to categorize and count so far. Oh, and we also got a bunch of compound bows and arrows. I don't know much about bows, but I picked up a couple of books about it."
Jim smiled. "That's alright. We know a bow hunter. Remember Pastor Pasquale? I'm sure he'll teach us."
Mike nodded. "That's right. Good deal. We also took all the camo - loads and loads of it. We have enough to outfit hundreds, and some of it is cold weather stuff. Boots and socks too."
"Very good." said Jim. "Are there many clothes left? Or anything else we can use?"
Mike nodded. "There are a lot of clothes left. Also, some camping equipment and a lot of assorted stuff we might want if we have the room."
"Okay. We'll see if we can get one of the trailers emptied into the barn and schedule a trip back there in a few days. In case you don't fill it up, you might be thinking about other stops you'd like to make as long as you've got the trailer out. How about scouts?"
"Like Christian said, we're cross training some guys as scouts and security, since many of the skills are shared and the better each one is at the other the better they'll be able to deal with those of any adversaries. I think we need as many more as we can find and train, as
long as they are quality people, and to that end I have a suggestion. I think we should open it up to women."
Jim cocked his head at him. "Tell me your reasons."
"Security is not going to be like law enforcement, and the scout teams are not going to be like military special ops. Brawn is not going to be nearly as important as teamwork, smarts and attitude. To be honest, I can see where women could be value enhancements in domestic situations here and with surveillance and contact activities with the scouts."
Jim thought for a minute and looked at Christian. "What do you think?"
Christian nodded slowly. "It makes sense," he said, looking around at the others, then at Jim. "There were a lot of problems when women came into law enforcement due to affirmative action, because a lot of them simply couldn't do the job physically and they were taking the slots of male applicants who could have. Here, it's different. They wouldn't be taking anybody's place, they'd simply be adding their abilities to others on the team. They won't be able to do everything we can, but that doesn't mean they can't do a lot. And like Mike said, there may be situations a woman is actually better suited for. I'm for giving it a try."
Jim sat thinking while the others watched him. Finally, he looked up. "Okay, we'll give it a try. A couple of parameters, though. Only women between eighteen and forty, and none with children."
Both Mike and Christian nodded and agreed.
Jim looked around the group. "Okay, anything else?"
"Actually, Aedan has something he'd like to show you," said Christian.
Jim's eyebrows raised. “Yeah?”
Christian smiled. “Yep. He's chomping at the bit. We'll need to go outside.”
