by Newman, AJ
I spent a lot of time with Uncle Arlo learning everything from marksmanship to trapping and fishing. Those were the best years of my life.
Aunt Betty died first, and then Uncle Arlo died the next year. He sold me the farm for a dollar the month before he died. I still have his old Ford truck, and it’s my EMP proof bug out vehicle. I have set the whole farm up as my bug out "go to" place. I go up there every chance I get, but it's only every three months, or so since I took the job below Nashville after the divorce.
TSHTF
Owensville, Kentucky
“You took a dump in Todd’s new Corvette? You are my hero!”
“I did, and it was right in the middle of the driver’s seat. It must have been a good one because the flies started swarming as soon as I jumped out of the car.”
“Dude, you are the man.”
“Look, Zack, I did it for me as much as I did for you. That bastard ruined our relationship with Joan, and I hate the jerk.”
“Where was the car parked?”
“At his house under the carport; the dumbass left the top down, and I couldn’t resist.”
They both laughed until tears streamed down their cheeks. This would go down in history along with the time they flushed M-80s down the toilets at Daviess County High. Everyone knew they did it, but couldn’t prove anything.
“Does he know who did the dastardly deed?”
“No, but with you out of town, I’m sure that he knows it was me who fouled his Chevy.”
“Hey Mike, have you been by the farm lately?”
“Yeah, a couple of weeks ago. Sorry, but I took a friend over and soiled your sheets so to speak. I cleaned up and washed the sheets the next day.”
“No problem. I might be paranoid, but this shit hitting the fan with Israel and Iran has me scared. Can you check our food and water and perhaps buy some more beans and rice? I’ll pay you back.”
“I’ll bet you have your bug out bag and 1911 with you. Your uncle has you flinching every time the TV has bad news. I’ll take care of it, Buddy.”
“I don’t go anywhere without BOB and my trusty Colt .45. I also have my 12 gauge and Ruger MKI in the trunk. Just because you’re paranoid doesn’t mean that they're not out to get you. I’ve had a bad feeling about being away on a trip when the shit hits the fan. I’m counting on you to take care of Callie and that bitch sister of yours if TEOTWAWKI happens while I’m gone.”
“You rattle that shit off just like you practiced saying TWEPKSTDHIV.”
“Not funny idiot.”
“Calling me names won’t get you any favors.”
“Okay, pretty please, you fucking idiot.”
“Now that’s better. Hey, are you getting laid out in Oregon?”
“Funny that you should ask. I have a weird coyote ugly story for you.”
••••
Mike Norman has been my best friend since grade school. He is 36 with brown hair and green eyes. He’s built like a short fullback at 5'8" and 225 pounds of muscle. He's never married and doesn’t have any kids. He is an auto mechanic and works at the Ford dealership in Owensville. He drives a new Mustang convertible, but also has a 1973 F100 that is powered by a 460 with a C6 tranny. I helped him build the truck and helped him make it EMP proof in case the SHTF. He has six other vehicles sitting around his house, which were future projects. He never stays with a woman more than a year, and most couldn’t put up with his obsession with cars and junk. He spends most of his time and money on his projects and a lot of time chasing tail between girlfriends. We both are getting too old for that shit.
Mike's problem is he is so adorable, kind of like a long-eared puppy so that women want to mother and take care of him. Mike just wants to get laid and not deal with having a woman around all of the time. He has one woman he can’t get rid of, and she really cares for him even knowing that he spends a great deal of time chasing tail. I always called her Janie Sweatpants because she always has yoga pants on and her name is Polish and starts with Swet…….and I can’t pronounce it anyway. She would marry Mike, and that scares him to death.
••••
The next morning found Mike driving on Highway 60 from Anderson to the farm. He drove straight through town so he could stop for breakfast at Lee’s Restaurant before cutting across to Highway 54 to go to the farm. He always stopped at Lee’s for the humongous pancakes, which were much larger than the plate. He always ordered two along with two eggs and ate every last bite.
“Hey Betty, the usual.”
“Mike, you are early this morning. Who was the young lady with you last week? You know a girl could get jealous.”
“Now Betty, don’t worry. I can’t even remember her name. She was a date that didn’t work out.”
Mike’s order was delivered, and he ate while watching the FOX news anchor talk about tension in the Middle East because Israel had called up all of its reserves and placed its military on the highest alert. The anchor mentioned there had been an unprecedented number of flights out of Israel that started last week and continued this morning. Many of the flights were to the USA.
Suddenly there was a break in the news, and the report stated there was an intense air battle going on between Iran and Israel. A few minutes later, the reporter broke back into the news to report that Israel had been attacked with nuclear weapons and had responded by bombing Iran’s nuclear processing facilities, command, and control and all major military bases with nuclear weapons. The president would address the nation in 15 minutes.
Mike took his cell phone out of his pocket and called Zack. The phone rang for an eternity and went to voice mail. Mike had called three times before Zack answered.
“What the fuck do you want?”
“Hey buddy, have you heard the news? Iran nuked Israel and Israel retaliated with nukes.”
“I was asleep. Remember it’s two hours earlier here. Damn, it’s only 3:30 a.m. You’d better have a good reason to wake me up this early.”
“Zack, get in your car and head home right now. The shit hit the fan in the Middle East. Iran and Israel have nuked each other. Turn the news on.”
I replied, “Oh crap,” as I turned the TV on to FOX News.
I watched for a minute and said, “Mike, I’m getting dressed, buying some food and hitting the road. I don’t want to be caught out here with this shit happening. I will start trying to contact you at 10:00 – 10:15 p.m. every night per our plan. Bye.”
“Will do. Bye.”
Mike gobbled down his pancakes and drove to Wal-Mart. He purchased 400 pounds of rice, 400 pounds of beans, 10 cases of Spam and 20 cases of bottled water. He also purchased three boxes of every type of ammunition that the store had in stock.
He climbed into his truck and was ready to drive to Zack’s farm when he remembered to call Joan, “Are you listening to the news?”
“Hell no, I was asleep you idiot. Yeah, I have it on now. I hear they're fighting again in Israel. Todd says that it’s no big deal and not to worry.”
“Joan, Todd is an idiot. Israel just nuked Iran. Go to the store and buy canned food, dried beans, rice and lots of water. Oh, buy ammo for your guns. The USA will have to respond, and we might get nuked ourselves.”
“You sound like Zack. When will ya’ll grow up?”
“Joan, the shit is hitting the fan, and if I’m wrong, you won’t have to buy beans and rice for two years. Please listen to me.”
“Look, Mike, we know it was you that took a dump in the Corvette. Pulling this buy beans joke is stupid and don’t call back until you are ready to pay the bill for having Todd’s car cleaned.”
The phone went dead.
Mike stopped at the other Wal-Mart on Highway 54, and several sporting goods stores to purchase as much ammo as they would sell him. He bought as many .45, .223 and .308 rounds as they would sell him. He was only able to purchase a thousand rounds of .22s since they had a three box limit per customer. Then he drove on out to the farm and unloaded his truck.
&nb
sp; Damn, he wished Zack were here. He always knows what to do. He was worried Joan and Callie would not be safe in town if the shit hit the fan in Owensville.
He called Callie, “Hey girl.”
“Uncle Mike, I’m scared. This is what Dad said would happen in the Middle East. Where are you? Can you come and get me?”
“Callie, so you’ve seen the news?”
“Yes, I’m trying to get mom to bug out to the farm and Todd is being a little turd.”
“I can’t come and kidnap you, but I do want you to make sure that you have your bug out bag, extra clothes, and your guns ready to leave your home if needed.”
“I’ve been packing and gathering extra food without alerting Mom.”
“Good girl, I’ll come and get you if the shit hits us here in the states. Call if you need me.”
“Love you, Uncle Mike.”
“Love you too, Callie Girl.”
✪✪✪
Thanks for reading this sample of The Day America Died! : New Beginnings.
✪
Books by AJ Newman
EMP:
Perfect Storm
Chaos in the Storm
Cole’s Saga series:
Cole’s Saga
FEMA WARS
American Apocalypse:
American Survivor
Descent Into Darkness
Reign of Darkness
Rising from the Apocalypse
After the Solar Flare:
Alone in the Apocalypse
Adventures in the Apocalypse
Alien Apocalypse:
The Virus
Surviving
A Family’s Apocalypse Series:
Cities on Fire
Family Survival
The Day America Died:
New Beginnings
Old Enemies
Frozen Apocalypse
The Adventures of John Harris:
Surviving
Hell in the Homeland
Tyranny in the Homeland
Revenge in the Homeland
Apocalypse in the Homeland
John Returns
AJ Newman and Mack Norman
Rogue’s Apocalypse:
Rogues Origin
Rogues Rising
Rogues Journey
A Samantha Jones Murder Mystery:
Where the Girls Are Buried
Who Killed the Girls?
AJ Newman and Cliff Deane:
Terror in the USA: Virus: Strain of Islam
These books are available on Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/AJ-Newman/e/B00HT84V6U/ref=dp_byline_cont_ebooks_1
To contact the Author, please leave comments @ www.facebook.com/newmananthonyj
About the Author
AJ Newman is the author of 28 science fiction and mystery novels and 6 audiobooks that have been published on Amazon and Audible. He was born and raised in a small town in the western part of Kentucky. His Dad taught him how to handle guns very early in life, and he and his best friend Mike spent summers shooting .22 rifles and fishing.
Reading is his passion, and he read every book he could get his hands on and fell in love with science fiction. He graduated from USI with a degree in Chemistry and made a career working in manufacturing and logistics but always fancied himself as an author.
Newman served six years in the Army National Guard in an armored unit and spent six years performing every function on M48 and M60 army tanks. This gave him great respect for our veterans who lay their lives on the line to protect our country and freedoms.
He currently resides in a small town just outside of Owensboro, Kentucky with his wife Patsy and their four tiny Shih Tzu’s, Sammy, Cotton, Callie, and Benny. All except Benny are rescue dogs.
