by Steven Smith
Collins looked around and saw the men following Emily from the barn.
"As to tampering with official army business, I'd like to see a copy of your directives, captain."
Collins hesitated. "I don't carry those with me, Mr. Wyatt," he said, trying to regain some of his composure.
Jim nodded. "I'm sure you don't. When were you last in contact with your chain of command?"
“I don't see what difference that makes." Collins was beginning to regain some of his lost bravado. He always felt better when he was able to tell a civilian that something was none of their business. "Besides, that information is classified."
"Where are you from, captain?"
Collins paused before answering, momentarily thrown off balance by the sudden change in course of the conversation. "I'm from Connecticut. Why?"
"Well, as Sheriff McGregor said earlier, this is Kansas. Being from Connecticut, you may not know that you're sitting only a couple hundred miles from the original Boot Hill, which is filled with guys who tried to take stuff that didn't belong to them. Now, you say you have directives telling you to take our stuff so you can give it to other people. Tell me, captain, what gives you that right?"
"The law gives me that right. The government." said Collins, defensively.
"What government, captain?"
"The United States government, of course."
"Of course? What makes you think the United States government still exists, captain?"
Collins looked confused. "Of course it exists. How could it not exist?"
"Oh, I don't know, captain. Perhaps the same way the Roman Empire no longer exists. Or ancient Greece. Or the Mayan civilization. The U.S. government long ago turned away from serving the interests of the American people and declined into a despotic organism which took from those who were productive and gave to those who were not. In essence, captain, the government became a facilitator for parasites who eventually destroyed their host's ability and willingness to support them."
"I don't know what you mean," said Collins, obviously confused and irritated. "This is nonsense."
Jim leaned back in his chair. "I'm not surprised that you don't know what I mean, captain. You must have gone to public schools. But as far as being nonsensical, it is not. It was the government programs of the past fifty years that were nonsense, and which destroyed our country's ability and will to defend against the kind of thing that’s happened to us. They were too busy making economic and political war on those who believed in the founding principles of this country to focus on the real enemies. Or maybe they did it on purpose. Who knows? It doesn't matter now. What matters is that we may have been given an opportunity to start over. If so, we're sure as hell not going to start over again by taking some people's stuff away from them and giving it to other people. Around here, any giving, taking or exchanging of private property will be voluntary."
Jim stared at Collins, who stared back in silence.
"So, there won't be any receiving, securing, taking or redistribution of anything around here, captain, except as we, as free men and women, decide of our own free will. Is that clear?"
Collins glared at Jim, trembling with rage at the resistance he had encountered at Stonemont and the emasculation he felt as a result. Who were these people to question his authority? First, he had been sent from the civilization of Connecticut to this frontier of wheat fields and pickup trucks, and now he had to endure the humiliation of being lectured and dictated to by some John Wayne wannabe who had questioned his orders and usurped his command.
Jim stood up. "We will have you here as our guest, captain, until the day after tomorrow. Then we'll take you back to your armory."
Fury rose within Collins as he imagined his father, Colonel Jack Collins, witnessing the scene. Collins imagined his father's dis-appointment and disgust if he could see his son being treated so dismissively by this group of fly-over hicks. What would Jack Collins have done?
Suddenly, Collins was clear about what he must do. He rose to his feet, drawing his sidearm and pointing it at Jim. "Mr. Wyatt, you are under arrest, and are now a prisoner of the United States Army. You and your group will comply with the directives I issue, and will face just punishment for refusing to obey the orders of the emergency authority."
Jim looked at him coldly. Collins saw him start to say something, but he didn't hear what he said. Nor did he hear the report of the rifle that sent the 5.56 round that he didn't feel through his brain. He didn't see Kelly standing in the kitchen door holding the smoking AR, and he didn't feel his body hit the ground.
19
They buried Collins the next morning after breakfast in an area north of the contact gate they had voted to name Boot Hill. To everyone's surprise, it was Bill who had suggested the location and the name.
"Frontier justice acted as a much greater deterrent than anything we have tried since," he had said. "This may be the new frontier, and it was certainly justice."
It was also Bill who had suggested the inscription on the wood slab marker; "He tried to take what wasn't his."
Now, Jim was looking at Bill across the conference table and voiced a question they all had. "What if part of the country, the government, still exists?"
Bill let out a long breath and leaned back in his chair. "That's the big question, isn't it?"
He looked around the table. "The question has several parts. First, if some exists, how much and where is it? Lieutenant Dehmer indicates that there doesn't seem to be any functioning state government, and I think he would know. I would also think that if there were a functioning remnant of the federal government still operating we would have received or heard of some kind of contact, even if it were a leaflet drop, and even out here."
He paused for a moment, leaning forward and taking a drink of his tea. "That leaves the possibility that there may be an element of a national government intact, but of insufficient size, capability or inclination to contact us, in which case they are either incapable of projecting their influence here or have made a conscious decision not to.
"Now, that poses the question that, if they can't secure this area now, will they attempt to do so at some later date when they have grown stronger, what form will that take, and what kind of government will it be?
"On the other hand, there is the obvious possibility that nothing larger than local government or community influence exists. In that case, we're farther back than the wild west, we're in the pilgrim or first settlers days. And that means we have to decide exactly how we want to start over again."
He looked down the table at Fred Briggs, the college professor Viking who had come with Mason and Bonnie. "I'd be interested to hear what Fred has to say."
Everyone turned toward Fred, who leaned forward and nodded at Bill.
"Either you've been living in my head or I've been living in yours." He looked around the table. "I couldn't agree with Bill more. But I would like to throw in a couple of additional possibilities, probably certainties, which the original settlers didn't have to deal with.
“The first, of course, is a continental population of over four hundred million people, many of whom are unable to provide for themselves for any number of reasons, which has already started a die-off that will last for up to a year, maybe longer. Included in this are millions of psychopathic, sociopathic and just plain mean individuals who will probably survive the die-off at higher percentages than more normal people as a result of their personality traits.
“The second is that, between the military and the recent militarization of the police, there is an unbelievable number of weapons, including intermediate and heavy weapons, all over the country, from small towns to major military bases. Much of the higher tech stuff may no longer be functional, but millions of small arms will be available to those who wish to arm defensive groups or private armies. Without a functional civil authority, laws will essentially be whatever those with the most guns say they are. We might be dealing more with a Genghis Khan scenario t
han the pioneer days."
The table was silent as they digested the information. Jim turned to Mike. "Mike, what do you think will happen as far as the military is concerned?"
Mike shrugged. "That's hard to say, but I think the vast majority of NCOs and officers from lieutenant to colonel will try to get back to their families and form some kind of defensive and support structure that will provide security for their communities. Some, perhaps many, flag officers will feel they must remain at their posts and attempt to maintain command authority for their areas. This may be good or it may be bad. It could be good in that they will maintain order and security over large stockpiles of weapons. It could be bad if they see this as an opportunity to establish military governments in their area. Probably, it will be combination of the two. The danger in both cases is that I think most of the troops who stay with these commands will be low ranking enlisted who will follow whatever orders they are given, as long as they are fed, clothed and allowed to enjoy the spoils of war without fear of civilian authority. Essentially, I think we might see the rise of warlords."
Jim looked around and saw the effect these opinions were having on the others. What had been a collection of people curious about the future had become a group focused on scenarios that many had not considered.
"What about law enforcement?" Jim asked, looking at Freelove, McGregor and Dehmer.
The three lawmen looked at each other, then Freelove spoke. "We talked about this quite a bit last night. We feel the cities are pretty much gone. Most city officers did not live in, or even close to, their districts. They went home within the first day or two and the cities have been burning ever since. We figure populations have probably decreased by half, but that's just a guess.
"Smaller towns and rural areas are different,” he continued, “with officers living within or close to their patrol areas. Order has generally been maintained in these areas, since everyone knows each other and officers are an accepted and respected part of their communities. Besides that, social expectations are more uniform and people pretty much enforce those expectations themselves. The main problem is criminal gangs raiding into the rural areas from the cities and refugees fleeing from the cities into the rural areas."
"How bad is the problem now?" asked Jim.
"We had quite a few refugees a couple weeks after the power went out," Freelove answered. "Then there was a break and now we're seeing some more, but not as many."
"We figure the two waves were those who were totally unprepared and those who were somewhat prepared and lasted longer at home," said McGregor. "This second bunch is in pretty bad shape."
"What are you doing with them?" Bill asked.
"Some are being taken in by families and some by churches that have set up centers," said Freelove. "So far, we've been able to absorb them, but I think that's an indication of how low the city survival rate is."
The group sat silent for a minute, considering this information. Finally, Jim spoke. "How would you assess the current security situation?"
The lawmen looked at each other again. This time is was Dehmer who spoke.
"From interviews we've had with refugees, we think that most of the existing city survivors are criminal gangs who have survived this long by preying on the other residents. It's just a matter of time before they run out of food and start to push out of the city. That's what we're preparing for."
"Are you ready for that?" asked Christian.
Dehmer nodded. "I think we're in pretty good shape. They've already dealt with this out west of here. Remember how many illegals came across our southern border? Well, a lot of them ended up working in the packing houses in western Kansas and a lot of the gangs came with them. When they cleaned out Dodge City and several of the other towns they started migrating into the countryside. It was a bad move for them, as they were met by country folks who had been shooting since they were popping prairie dogs and jack rabbits as kids."
"What's the situation there now?"
"Dodge and the other towns are pretty much empty, the old Boot Hill should now be called Boot Mountain, and the country is nice and peaceful. Anyway, this is what we expect to happen soon with Topeka, Lawrence, Wichita and Kansas City, though on a larger scale. There is one area of concern, though, and I think this might go back to what Mike was talking about. Fort Riley."
Jim nodded. "Go ahead."
"Several troopers told me that Riley closed its gates after the event. They haven't come out or let anybody in since then."
"What's Fort Riley?" asked Bill.
"Home of the First Infantry Division," replied Dehmer, looking around the table. "The Big Red One. It goes back to before Custer. As a matter of fact, I think he was stationed there for a while. It's huge and has everything from armor to air power. If the Army has it, there's a good chance that Riley's got some of it. Anyway, they haven't come out and haven't let anyone in that we know of. We're not sure what to make of it, and the guards at the gates aren't answering questions."
"The Army's got a plan for taking a shit in a sandstorm," said McGregor, "so you can be sure this is part of a plan."
"True," said Freelove, nodding. "The question is what's next in their plan?"
Jim turned to Ann. "What would you guess is the status of their high-tech stuff?"
Ann shook her head. "I'd say they probably have millions of tons of stuff that might start but won't go."
"Why is that?"
"We did some work for a defense contractor a couple of years ago. One of the projects was a bid for HEMP protective measures."
"What's hemp?" asked McGregor.
"It stands for high altitude electromagnetic pulse,” Ann answered. “In other words, an EMP caused by a nuke detonated at high altitude. There's no nuclear danger, but it's line-of-sight lights out. Anyway, the DOD put out an invitation to bid on vehicular and aircraft electronic protective measures that could only be construed as HEMP-specific. It wasn't hard to figure from the parameters of the bid specifics that they had pretty much nothing to begin with. We know that top tier stuff like the presidential and nuclear capable aircraft are protected, and probably some stuff we know nothing about. But the millions of circuit-rich electronic-dependent systems from night vision goggles to missile systems to tanks to helicopters and fighter jets are probably just big paperweights now."
Jim thought for a moment. "Well, there's no way to know whether that's good news or bad news. We'll just have to wait and see."
They spent the rest of the day discussing specific needs and concerns, letting each other know what areas they felt they needed help in or could offer help to others. By late afternoon, they were ready to wrap up, but Jim had a remaining question he wanted to ask the group.
"Pasquale has asked me something and I'd like to get everybody's input on it.” He turned to Paoli. “Pasquale, would you explain it to them?"
Paoli leaned forward, resting his forearms on the table and folding his hands. "We have a large building across the road from us that used to be another church. It is now empty, and I am concerned that it could prove to be a danger to us and the entire area if a bad bunch took it over because it is very large, it is made of concrete and it sits on over fifty acres on one of the highest hills in the county. It overlooks us and the major intersection of the area. I asked Jim if he would consider taking it over and running a trading post out of it. Stonemont has the resources to run it, and would ensure the location serves the area instead of threatens it."
Jim then spoke. "I think it makes sense, and if Stonemont did take it over I would consider putting a medical facility in it as well as installing a security team there. But I don't want anyone to think that Stonemont is making a move to expand at other people's expense, or that expansion is our goal. It isn't. Our goal is the establishment and expansion of safety and security for free people. That's why I would like everyone's thoughts and hear any objections or reservations.”
Everyone at the table looked at each other, some shrugging and som
e nodding approval. Uncharacteristically, it was Mike who verbalized a response.
"Someone will eventually occupy that location, and it is important that they not be a threat to others in the area. As a result of the Wyatts’ planning and subsequent management of the crisis response, Stonemont is the one entity that can establish and operate a facility that can provide both security and service elements for everyone's benefit. I think this is a no-brainer."
"I agree," nodded Mason.
"Me too," said Freelove, with McGregor nodding beside him.
"Are there any who have a question or concern about it?" Jim asked, looking around the table. "I assure you there won't be any offense taken or hard feelings."
All around the table shook their heads.
"Let's give Jim an active vote of confidence," said McGregor. "Everyone who approves of Stonemont taking possession of and operating the site in question raise their hand."
Everyone raised their hand.
Jim nodded at Pasquale. "Okay, we'll get started right away."
Then, to the entire group, "Winter is coming pretty soon and this will be a major test. It will show who has prepared well and who is truly able to provide for themselves. I would expect an increase of refugees and perhaps the final large die off before spring. Let's all stay in touch and help each other get through it. If there's anything Stonemont can do for you, let us know.”
20
Everyone rose early, those who had traveled to get an early start back and those who lived close by to get started on the many projects that had been laid out the day before. Jim had accompanied Freelove, McGregor, Dehmer and their men to the gate, wishing them well, and now walked to the barn with Christian, Bill and Mason.
