Chasing the Dark: The Demon Inside

by A. P. Texan

  About 15 minutes later we have the bucket of the tractor loaded up with Batteries, Cables, Inverters, Charge Controllers and Solar panels and Calvin starts carefully maneuvering it back over to the barn. Bob and I are walking.

  “So, you’ve known Calvin and Kerri how long?”

  “Known each other about 10 years. Became close over the last year. Became more like brothers than friends over the last six months. That’s when they started building this little prepper paradise. Why do you ask?”

  “Well, honestly it just seems strange, I mean they bought all of this. Gave you a three-thousand-dollar rifle set up and didn’t question anything when you showed up with nearly 20 people during the apocalypse.”

  “It’s the type of people they are. In addition, we are closer to them than their own kids are. Since they sold their lake house and moved out here to the sticks; their kids very seldom come around and if they do it is just to drop off one of the grandkids. He told me earlier he had his will changed to leave me the farm. All his kids want is money and they would probably parcel the land off.”

  We come around the corner of the barn and see Calvin has the tractor right in front of the roll up door and the bucket on the ground. He is over at one of the tables looking over the schematics. Nick and Charles are driving the ford and HUMVEE back down to the container to get started on the Armory; Mom, Sandy, Elizabeth, and Cynthia’s girls are unloading the food from the trailers and vehicles. Then stacking it according to what it is. I see Cynthia, Barbara, Kerri, and Russell, going in and out of the cabin carrying this or that out. The windows are open, and a breeze is blowing the curtains out the windows. I don’t see my girls or Natalie and the Baby so I’m guessing they are occupied elsewhere. I smile and realize for the first time this could actually work. Thanks to the giving heart of Calvin and Kerri this could actually work. There is an exceptionally good chance we could all survive this.

  “Alright old man what’s the game plan?” I ask as we walk up to the table

  “Well, first we are going to wire leads into all the panels, then you to young whippersnappers are going to get up on the roof and bolt them down to the brackets; I had installed up there. While you’re doing that, I’ll start assembling the battery boxes and charge controllers. We should have enough wire to put everything over by the power pole. So, I’ll do my assembly over there.”

  “Do you have a ladder, or do we just have to scale the building?”, Robert asks with a sarcastic grin.

  “The ladder is in the barn. And we will lift all your supplies up there in the bucket”

  “Okay let’s do this” Robert says, as he is walking towards the door to go get the ladder, I quickly follow.

  1300 13 September 2021

  The Farm

  We get the panels installed and all the batteries hooked up to the charge controllers and inverters, where they can start charging. We are going to allow them two days to get them fully charged before wiring them into the box. The cabin is cleared of all the junk and they are sweeping it out and checking the floor for weak spots. So, we can patch them later. The barn is cleaned out and all the food is going on the storage side as well as all the medical supplies. We are also hanging all the clothes up sorted by size, so that whenever someone needs something it is easily accessed. At this point my key to our survival is organization and rigid inventory. We have to know how much of what we got so if we start getting low, we can go scavenge for more.

  Charles and Nick have the armory set up and organized so we go down to take a look at what we have. They also give me back the Sig with the new barrel in place as well as a pouch to put on my belt with the Suppressor in it.

  Nick starts “So here is what we got, 3 Glock 22’s including my duty weapon which I have put in the Armory because I took a Sig P226 we had. We have 3 Sig P320’s, 2 Springfield 1911’s, 2 Smith and Wesson Shields, 2 Springfield XPs in .45, and 4 Glock 19’s. For long guns we have 2 Diamondbacks including yours, 1 Saint and 1 Daniel Defense, I claim the Double D, we also have three DPMS AR-10's. I’m also claiming one of those, and your M1A. For optics we have Eo-techs for all the 15s and Vortex variables for the 10s. I’m putting a Razor HD AMG on the AR 10 I’m claiming and putting 3-9s on the other two. Calvin hooked us up with tons of spare parts for the 15s but we are limited on the 10s, so I recommend using them as little as possible. As far as ammo we have about eight thousand each of 9mm, and .45, about six thousand .308, and you’re going to love this. We have fifteen thousand rounds of 5.56 and .223 combined.”

  “Okay,” I say, “How many magazines for each?”

  “Well,” this time it is Charles “For the 15s we have about 60, the 10s we have 20, and your M1A has 10. The pistols have 4 mags each.”

  “Charles, get you a handgun and an AR. Nick, you’ve got the Sig and your 2 rifles. Robert bring your Glock and grab an AR. I will have my Sig, AR and the M1A. We all get 4 side arm mags and 8 AR Mags. I will however take all 10 M1 mags considering they are only 20 rounders and I’m the only one with an M1. The four of us are the main security element. And we don’t go anywhere without a side arm and 4mags at a minimum. If we are anywhere other than right here at the compound, then we have a long gun on us as well. It might seem like we got a lot of ammo right now, but it won’t take us long to blow through it if we do a lot of shooting, so we don’t. Hunting and threats only. Except, what we are getting ready to go shoot to zero and test fire. Everything else stays in here and locked up.”

  We all go about loading up Magazines and kitting up. I load up half my mags with hollow points and half with full metal jacket. The magazines with hollow points I mark with a tab of Black gorilla tape. The Mags for the sig are all loaded with hollow points. The other three see what I’m doing and follow suit.

  “Okay boys load up so we can go zero”, we head to the Hummer and load up with me driving. After a few minutes we end up at the portion of the farm I use for shooting, I call it my personal range. We drive across the pasture to where I store my target stands and targets. Just a few minutes after jumping out of the truck we have four targets set up at thirty-three yards from the firing line.

  33 yards is the perfect distance to zero an AR 15. 33 yards will equate to 300 yards with no hold over. And minimal hold changes for closer or further distances. After we spend about 20 minutes zeroing all the AR 15s, we go back a hundred yards to zero the big guns. I attach my bipod assume a good prone position and sight in on my target. Take a breath let it out slowly hold and squeeze, the rifle barks with the light touch of the trigger. The Round impacts about two inches high and three inches left of the target. I adjust the turrets on the scope and let another round fly, dead center, another round and I cut the previous hole.

  “Alright Nick, that works for me, so let’s see what you got.”

  Nick Takes his AR 10 an assumes a position just like mine. He doesn’t have a bipod on his rifle, so he props it up on his day pack. He lets his breath out slow and pulls the trigger. He makes a couple of adjustments and then pulls the trigger three more times.

  I use my rifles scope to look at his results and see a perfect three leaf clover in his bulls’ eye.

  “I think that will do”, he says as he is standing up and putting the lens covers back on his Optic.

  After we get all the long guns zeroed, we spend the next couple hours running some carbine and pistol drills. I lead some, Nick leads some and even Robert knows a couple pistol drills. I’m glad I started drilling with Charles earlier in the year; he is learning fast and looks good. Of course, his youth and athleticism probably have a lot to do with that.

  I climb back in the truck and we head back to the barn. As we pull up, we notice a big change in things. The trailers are empty, and the supplies are inside the barn; we can see them stacked in nice, neat rows with labels on each row showing what is in it. The UTV’s and trucks are parked beside the barn in a nice little row. Not wanting to screw up the look I back the Hummer up at the end of the row next to the Chevy.

&nbs
p; We walk into the barn and see everyone sitting around sipping on cokes.

  “Looks good ladies”, I say in greeting,” How are we set on food?”

  Mom stands up with a notebook, “Let’s see, after doing some calculations on calories needed; combined with what we have on hand in here as well as in the container, I would say we have close to a year as long as we can supplement with fresh meat. However, these calculations are based on a strict rationing and an adherence to a 1500 calorie diet. Which means we are all going lose some weight. I’m also going to insist everyone eat a regular three meals and they will be on a schedule. A major part of staying healthy is diet and if I know anything, I know how to maintain a heathy diet. I’ve had to do it for myself for 8 years now.”

  “Come spring we will also be able to plant and that will help supplement as well. But it will take time for the plants to grow enough for us to start harvesting.” I add

  “That is true, and I think we can speed up that time by starting the seeds in here. We can make sure it is warm in here and we can open up the doors a bit daily to let them get sunlight. So, we can probably start growing them the middle to end of February and transfer to the ground the middle of March.” Mom explains.

  “What about the National Guard Armories?” Nick Asks “The Armories will have stockpiles of MREs. And if they have cooks, they will have the big cans of vegetables and what not as well. With the power down it won’t be hard to get in and even if they have someone on duty, I can go in the HUMVEE in uniform they aren’t going to question a Ranger Staff Sergeant. I don’t have an active-duty ID Card, but my Retiree Card should work; I’ll tell them I have been reactivated due to the situation.”

  “I’m going with you,” I add “I’ll get cleaned up and tell them I’m your FEMA liaison. We are setting up a relief camp at Carswell JRB and we are collecting all of the food stuff and taking it there. We could even tell them they are to abandon the Armory and head to JRB to join the relief forces there.”

  “A Pallet of MREs has 48 cases, a case has 12 meals, that is 576 meals, each meal has around 1500 calories, quick math anyone” Nick asks

  “865,000, Approximately.” Mom answers in just about 30 seconds

  Everybody just looks at her in astonishment,” What? I’ve always been good at quick math in my head.”

  Rusty looks up from where he was sitting at the table writing on a scrap of paper, “864,000 to be exact, but another way to look at it is 576 1500 calorie meals so that is 1 meal a day. 576 meals divided by 19 people is 30 days' worth of meals.”

  “Good Job Buddy,” Christine says

  “Let’s plan that for tomorrow, we leave at 0600. Calvin which is closer Decatur or Shoreview.” I ask

  “Decatur will be closer, but shore-view is more likely to have supplies.”

  “Shoreview is too close to JRB. They will have already had people there if your plan was accurate. And since we don’t know if that is actually happening let’s not take the chance of you blowing your cover.” Elizabeth speaks up.

  “Okay let’s do this. Nick take Robert and try our ruse in Decatur. Take as much as they will let you. Charles, and I will go scout out Shoreview. If your plan works, there than we can try it again at Shoreview once we see what the situation is there. We still leave at 0600.”

  “What’s for dinner?” Isabella asks as she walks in the door of the barn. With that simple statement, she brings everyone back to the reality that we need to eat.

  Mom and Kerri work together and get us a good meal of dried beef and mixed vegetables served over a bed of rice. It is a fantastic meal and hopefully we will be able to continue with these kinds of hearty meals through the winter and into the spring.

  After dinner we split up to go our different ways. My plan is to get myself ready for a sneak and peek at Shoreview Armory. Shoreview National Guard Armory is the largest NG facility in Tarrant County. It is home to a transportation battalion, therefore, has a large number of fuel trucks, cargo trucks, and Humvees. It also has a large storage building on one end of the motor pool with all of the battalion’s non-sensitive items in it; MREs, tents, camo nets, water cans and anything else that a United States Army unit would need in the field is stored inside that building. Unfortunately, the fun stuff like ammunition, weapons, night-vision or anything like that is going to be stored inside the arms room in the main building and we aren't getting into that without a heavy-duty metal saw or cutting torch. The armory is just outside of Ft. Worth on the northwest side close to the Lockheed facility and Carswell Joint Reserve Base. Due to its proximity to those two highly secured facilities, I'm guessing it is probably going to be a no-go, but we won’t know until we get eyes on it.

  In order for us to get good intel on the facility, I want to watch it for at least twelve hours, which means we will probably be gone a day and a half possibly two days. We are also going to be out of communication range with the farm, so we need to have everything we will need to be self-sufficient. I'm going to take the old Ford truck as it will travel faster and further than the UTVs plus it won’t look as conspicuous to the average observer. I’ll wear my dark brown Tru-Spec tactical pants along with a Real Tree camo long sleeve shirt, Real tree light weight face mask and a coyote colored boonie hat. For kit I’m going to take the SOCOM with six mags and my ever-present Sig 1911. I take my extra AR15 mag pouches off my battle belt and give them to Charles. In the bed of the truck, I put my “Get Home Bag”. Inside the bag, I put two MREs, extra hundred rounds of .308 ammo and extra hundred rounds of .45 ammo as well.

  After Charles and I get our stuff together, we head off to our separate sleeping areas to get some sleep. As I'm heading into the cabin, I see Barbara and Nick leaving the barn heading towards the woods.

  “Good for them”, I say to the darkness, “Somebody needs some normalcy in this world.”

  “Well then get in here and show me some normalcy” Sandy says from the darkness inside the cabin.

  I smile and head to the inside of the cabin. Where we hold each other in a loving embrace. The first time in three days that we were able to truly be alone we slipped into the bedroom of the two-room cabin and fall into each other's arms. For the next hour before we fall asleep, we forget about everyone and everything around us focusing on nothing, but the pleasure of each other.

  0500 14 September 2021

  The Farm

  I wake up still wrapped up in Sandy’s arms. Her leg draped over mine. I carefully and quietly extricate myself from her embrace trying not to wake her.

  “Hey Amor, you're not going to leave without saying anything are you?” She whispers without opening her eyes.

  “Of course not, I just wanted to let you sleep a little more before we take off, that's all.”

  “I’ll wake you up in a little bit before we roll out.”

  I finish getting dressed and put on the rest of my kit then slip out of the cabin and sit on the porch to have a smoke, before I walk over to the communal dining area and make some coffee. As I'm finishing my smoke, I step off the porch and hear the sound of an approaching UTV coming from the direction of the road. As I turn my head to look that direction, in the dark of the predawn I can see the headlights out on the main gravel drive that leads up to our new home. More than likely this is just Calvin, Kerri and the rest coming up from the house for breakfast, but I still unsling the big battle rifle, just in case. Just a few seconds later the UTV engines cut off as do the lights. Nope, not our people. I back off the porch back into the cabin to wake up Sandy.

  “Wake up babe, someone’s coming up the drive and they don’t want to be seen. They got to the area by the pond and killed the engine and headlights on their UTV.”

  “Okay babe what do you want me to do?”

  “Wake up everybody in here and the barn, have Charles grab a radio and get ahold of me. I am going to circle around and see if I can make contact.”

  “Be careful, my love”

  “I will. Now hurry and wake everyone up!”

/>   With that, I slip out the door in the back of the cabin, the hinges protesting and letting out a horrible squeal.

  “Shit! That was freaking loud.” I say to myself as I crouch run to the fence line separating us from the neighbor's property. From there, I slip into the tree line and head towards the last place I saw the UTV.

  As I approach the road, I stop and drop to a knee. It is still a good hour and a half ‘til sunrise and I can't see anything. The moon and stars are covered by a low cloud cover, and the darkness is about as complete as it can be. This works to my advantage as well as the intruders. I’m hopeful that the darkness forces them out onto the road, rather than through the thick brush.

  “I’m telling you, there is no one here, the old man and his wife live down the street. We passed their house on the way here, their cars and side by sides were in the driveway. We can just slip into the barn grab a few bags of feed and be out. Nobody will know and nobody will care” I hear from a disembodied voice.

  Then my earpiece comes to life.” Dad, you copy?”

  “Yeah, I got you” I whisper back “I have an unknown number of subjects making their way towards the barn, they don’t know we are here they came to steal some feed. It must be some locals.”

  “Copy, where do you want me?”

  “Get by the trucks and be ready. I don’t want to shoot anybody, especially if they’re our neighbors, but we need to make sure they know they aren’t welcome here.”

  “I don’t know man, I thought I heard a generator going and I smelled smoke coming from this area just yesterday.” Another voice says.

  “Man, would you shut up, you sound like a whiny bitch” one more voice.

  I key my radio, “I count three voices so far but still no visual. They sound like they are still down around the curve. Don’t think they are walking yet. Cross the main road and come down to the tree line. We will stop them here in a crossfire before they get to the barn in case they decide to shoot back. I'm going to shoot one at their feet once we get visual.”